Sustainable Gardeners and Farmers

• Organized philanthropy is a powerful tool for creating and sustaining societal benefit.
  
  
• Nonprofit provider organizations are key partners with our members and without them foundations could not do their work. However, the Council's focus is on issues and organizations that affect organized philanthropy, rather than on the entire third sector.
  
  
• The common good is enhanced when philanthropists come together for collective action to increase their impact and effectiveness.
  
  

• To be effective, organized philanthropy must operate with the highest degree of stewardship and accountability.
  
  
• Organized philanthropy can enhance its ability to contribute to the common good in a changing society by including in its work a range of perspectives, opinions and experiences from people representing diversity of ethnicity, race, gender, economic circumstance, sexual orientation, disability and philosophy.
  
  
• It is the responsibility of governments of nations that value participatory democracy to encourage broad-based and robust philanthropy through policies that create a supportive environment.
  

Join the Conversation

The Conversation: Preparing for and Responding to Disasters

Be they natural or otherwise, it is forecasted that many communities and populations around the world are going to face an unremitting array of localized and regional crises into the foreseeable future. Even in the United States and in spite of its affluence and highly developed infrastructure, many individuals face the prospect of losing their homes and possessions, their communities, their means of subsistence, often their families and lives, when natural or other disasters strike. Left unaddressed, these unpredictable but devastating crises can play havoc on societies, economies and individual lives, resulting in shortages and conflict, health emergencies and financial ruin of varying scope and magnitude.

Although often considered the government's responsibility and domain, recent disasters in the United States and elsewhere have reminded us that government alone cannot meet all of the immediate or long-term needs, either before or after disaster strikes. Therefore along with the private sector, philanthropy will always have a role in helping communities, first responders, public agencies and disaster relief organizations to effectively prepare for, cope with and ultimately surmount these sudden but devastating challenges. In the United States there will be even more opportunity for philanthropy to do what it already does—to be active in shaping and funding emergency preparedness and response; in meeting on the tasks, options and roles; and on creating new opportunities in the aftermath of a crisis. Foundations are now involved in everything from civil defense to flood prevention to search and rescue. With the likelihood for more of everything occurring here in the United States—from more active and lengthy hurricane seasons to acts of terrorism such as the anthrax scare or 9/11—many American foundations will become even more important in working with the other sectors to create a better prepared, informed and safer future for all.

The Conversation: Protecting the Environment

Historically, funding for the "environment" has represented only a small portion of overall foundation giving and attention. However, it is now one of the fastest-growing areas in philanthropy, reflecting society's growing concern for the ramifications of its production and consumption "footprint," its infinite needs competing with finite resources. Our means and models for modern growth have been wasteful, polluting, inequitable and, it appears, unsustainable. Fortunately, many believe that stewardship of the planet should be approached as a shared obligation that transcends political, national and ideological divides. And in this new Information Era where new knowledge, capabilities and technologies will abound, we have the opportunity to seek and adopt new lifestyles, capabilities and industries that will be more environmentally friendly. In communities big and small, in the United States and around the world, foundations are supporting ways to create and collaborate on commonsense solutions that balance social needs and economic growth while also being cognizant of the environment and our finite resources.

Many foundations are already engaged in these issues and actively working with the public and private sectors. Philanthropy supports initiatives to develop new alternatives for energy and production, more efficient land use and brownfields remediation, equitable control over resources, environmental advocacy and learning, and environmental justice and interdependence and more. Actually, many of the circumstances that have exacerbated environmental sustainability have long concerned philanthropy—issues such as poverty, competing resource demands for everyday needs, inequitable ownership of resources, differing behaviors and levels of knowledge, and inadequate institutional capabilities and infrastructure. All of this illustrates the continuing relationship of philanthropy to helping achieve a fair and environmentally sustainable future.

The Conversation: Ensuring Public Health

Measured in both dollars and number of grants, "health" has historically represented the second largest share of giving by American foundations. Yet amongst the "health" sub-categories, the area of "public health"—the critical long-term investment in a community's health infrastructure, maintenance and protection—has not been a high funding priority. Yet as has been demonstrated by recent events from the increasing obesity of Americans to the breakdown in healthcare services and facilities in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina to the frightening scenarios of a global pandemic reaching America's shores, our local and national public health infrastructure and capabilities are increasingly inadequate for meeting the needs of our modern communities and today's challenges. The aging demographic, increased cross-border and rural-urban migration, diverse lifestyles and often unhealthy behavior will exacerbate chronic health problems particularly among the most vulnerable populations, made worse by the wide inequities in education, access and distribution.

There are many public health challenges that foundations are concerned with, from access to healthy food and clean air and water to opportunities for physical activity in our modern social and built environments to helping to craft public health standards, and advocating on behalf of healthy lifestyle issues. For instance, the identification, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases is just one important aspect of public healthcare requiring public and private attention, both nationally and globally. Known and often preventable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis still claim six million lives annually worldwide and continue to devastate already vulnerable communities and economies. More than 30 new highly infectious diseases have been identified in the last 20 years, and the World Health Organization averages 200 outbreak investigations every year. Communities have yet to deal with the scary prospects of surviving diseases resulting from either accidentally or purposely modified organisms or from bioterrorism. Clearly, with the prospects of no known or adequate treatment for many diseases, foundations will be called on to assist in protecting their communities and the nation from serious public health threats. This will involve purposeful collaboration with corporations and the public sector.

The Conversation: Combating Poverty

In villages, cities and communities across nations and around the world, human lives, aspirations and potential are frequently lost to poverty. Noted economist Jeffrey Sachs estimates that more than one billion individuals worldwide exist in conditions of "extreme poverty," resulting in up to 20,000 deaths per day. And even in the United States, the Census Bureau estimates that 35 million Americans (including 17 percent of our children) remain below the poverty line. Although the scope and severity of poverty obviously differs between place and population, the persistent lack of access to adequate nutrition, education, healthcare, shelter and steady income is known to result in a cycle of emotional, physical and financial distress and vulnerability. And the existence of poverty in the 21st century will increasingly seem all the more shameful because there should be enough wealth and resources in the world not only to address but also to solve the most chronic instances. The signatories to the Millennium Development Goals believe that with concerted effort, it is possible to eliminate extreme poverty in a single generation.

Therefore, whether in their own communities or on behalf of those on the other side of the world—whether neighborhood projects that help individuals find gainful employment or secure housing or health insurance, or transnational programs that reduce food insecurity foundations play a crucial role in helping to eliminate poverty in our time. This theme will look at the work foundations are doing to end poverty and the numerous issues that intersect it, such as disability, education, rural areas, labor-income inequality and the widening wealth gap. It will draw from the latest research around labor market issues, socioeconomic demographics and the future of antipoverty policy.