Introduction

This introduction gives an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. In this book, the emerging "pragmatic" model of philanthropic action is based on the discussion of only four out of the seven impactful cases due to limitations of space and the need to reduce complexity. Recent decades have seen a rapid growth in the financial assets of philanthropic foundations in Europe and the USA. Foundations are confronted with external demands and their own ambitions to help solve major social problems, and they thrive due to the hopes they mobilise in this regard. Rational philanthropic behaviour under conditions of resource scarcity is further framed as a kind of social investment. There are good arguments and strong empirical evidence that the strategic project, at least if regarded as a universal panacea to the philanthropic predicament, may often make things worse, rather than leading to new levels of rationality and efficacy in tackling complex social problems.