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Philanthropy Research Workshop

Philanthropy Research Workshop

2018-2019 Schedule of Presenters

University Hall, home of Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Tuesdays, 12:00-1:15 p.m. (with occasional exceptions) University Hall Room 3011

Fall presentations
Spring presentations
Instructions for remote access
Downloadable calendar

The Philanthropy Research Workshop is a venue for presenting academic research prior to publication.

The workshop has expanded its disciplinary and methodological scope, and students and faculty will have opportunities for individual meetings with our speakers.

The purposes of the workshop include the following:

To help students and early career faculty develop as scholars. Workshops illustrate the process of research—problems that come up and how best to deal with them. Workshops expose participants to unfamiliar methodologies that might become part of their analytic toolbox. Workshops expose participants to what’s hot in research. External speakers can meet with students and faculty during their visits, beginning a relationship that can enhance one’s career.
To build a sense of community and shared knowledge both within the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and beyond. We build a shared sense of purpose, and foster interdisciplinary collaborations across schools, campuses, and disciplinary homes.
To build the research reputation of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Fall 2018

*The two Fall 2018 talks (Nov. 27 and Dec. 4) will take place on the fifth floor of University Hall (Room 5023).

November 27

Pamala Wiepking, Visiting Stead Family Chair in International Philanthropy and Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

"Global Philanthropy: How Institutional Factors Enable Philanthropic Giving" (coauthors: Femida Handy, Sohyun Park, Michaela Neumayr, René Bekkers, Beth Breeze, Chris Einolf, Zbignev Gricevic, Wendy Scaife with Steffen Bethmann, Oonagh Breen, Chulhee Kang, Hagai Katz, Irina Krasnopolskaya, Michael D. Layton, Irina Mersianova, Kuang-Ta Lo, Una Osili, Anne Birgitta Pessi, Karl-Henrik Sivesind, Arjen de Wit and Naoto Yamauchi)

Abstract: Very little is known about how institutional factors influence individual philanthropic behavior. We fill this gap by examining how the institutionalization of philanthropy is associated with an individual’s philanthropic giving across nineteen different countries. We posit that individual philanthropic giving is higher in a country where philanthropy is strongly legitimized by regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive elements. To test our hypotheses, we utilize a unique individual-level database on the incidence and level of philanthropic giving in these countries, the International Individual Philanthropy Database. Although correlational findings indicate strong relationships between our measures of institutionalization and the individual likelihood of giving and amounts donated, the results from multi-level analyses indicate that only regulative elements in the form of a combined egalitarian and pragmatic fiscal incentive system and normative elements in the form of an established fundraising regime have a positive relationship with philanthropic giving.

December 4

Avner Ben-Ner, Professor, Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies, Carlson School of Management and affiliate Professor of Law, University of Minnesota

"Is Altruism (Always) Good for Society? The Problem of Particularistic Giving in a Diverse Society"

Abstract: We celebrate philanthropy. It is associated with help for those in need, generosity and cooperation. Altruism is good. Its beneficiaries are not only the recipients of donations but giving makes donors feel better. Altruism and philanthropy are a win-win proposition for society.

But there is a dark side to altruism. Altruism is rarely universal, directed at people in general or to the needy in particular. The vast majority of donors give most of the money to organizations that serve people like themselves in terms of religion, ethnicity, class, culture, etc. This giving pattern reflects and deepens in-group loyalty and out-group enmity. This has a negative effect on intergroup relations, exacerbates fractionalization and polarization in society, and reduces the level of useful cooperation and trust among individuals who belong to different groups, which in turn has negative economic, political and social consequences.

It seems that for many individuals the stronger the altruistic feeling towards perceived in-group, the stronger the animosity towards perceived out-group. There is need for more research on this question, and how to balance the in-group/out-group seesaw of altruism-animosity in order to have a less polarized, more productive and more tranquil society.

Spring 2019

*All Spring 2019 talks will take place in the original location of University Hall (third floor, Room 3011).

January 22

Brian Galle, Professor of Law, Georgetown Law School

"The Tax Exemption for Charitable Property: An Empirical Assessment"

Abstract: I offer the first multi-jurisdictional assessment of the balance-sheet effects of the property-tax exemption for charitable property. I combine a manually-assembled dataset of property tax rates in over 4,000 municipalities with three large samples of firm-level administrative data, as well as hand-coded variations in the legal details of different states’ exemption regimes, to assemble a panel of more than 1 million firm-years. As expected, exemption causes charities to utilize more real property as tax rates rise. I offer new theoretical contributions showing that this effect, previously described as an unwanted distortion, may be second-best efficient in the presence of an income tax with accelerated depreciation, and confirm empirically the predictions of this new theory. Exemption also increases managerial compensation while crowding out efforts to raise revenue through donations and commercial activity. Lastly, exemption eases liquidity constraints on colleges and universities, allowing them to expand enrollment while holding per-student costs level.

January 29

Allison Youatt Schnable, Assistant Professor of Public Affairs and Affiliate Faculty Member, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, SPEA, IUB

"Don’t Re-Invent the Wheel: Possibilities and Limits to Building Capacity of Grassroots International NGOs"

View presentation

Abstract: Citizen aid for relief and development has expanded rapidly in the 21st century, as belief in individuals’ power as change agents has been given global scope through electronic communication and cheap travel. The number of American aid organizations operating in the global South has grown to nearly 10,000. These GINGOs—grassroots international NGOs—are small-budget, volunteer-driven organizations typically launched by Americans without professional experience in international development or nonprofit management. These groups prize the expressive and voluntaristic dimensions of development work, yet face challenges of amateurism, material scarcity, fragmentation, paternalism, and restricted focus. We investigate whether support organizations, whose primary goals are to build the capacity of organizations and strengthen the organizational field, offer GINGOs any solutions to their inherent weaknesses. We draw on 15 semi-structured interviews with a stratified selection of support organizations, including associations tailored towards international development and towards nonprofit work at large. We find that support organizations offer resources to help GINGOs in managerial and administrative domains. Fewer support organizations help GINGOs build technical development skills, and fewer still push GINGOs to critically reflect on their role in development. Peer learning models and online platforms offer particular promise, given the GINGOs’ weaknesses.

February 5

Maribel Morey, Assistant Professor of History, Clemson University

"The Black Freedom Struggle and Big Philanthropy"

Abstract: Spanning the 20th century, I start with the genesis of big philanthropy in the early 20th century to the latter decades of the century when my own access to these foundations’ archival materials becomes more limited. The first book, currently under review, details U.S. philanthropies’ approach to white-black relations during the first half of the 20th century. The second book project, for which I am now writing the proposal, describes when and why elite foundations such as the Ford, Rockefeller, and Carnegie groups became particularly invested in the U.S. civil rights movement of the second half of the 20th century.

February 19

Brian Berkey, Assistant Professor, Department of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, Wharton School of Business and Associated Faculty, Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania; Fellow-in-Residence, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University (for 2018-19 academic year)

"The Philosophic Core of Effective Altruism"

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Abstract: Effective altruism’s identity as both a philosophy and a social movement requires effective altruists to consider which philosophical commitments are essential, such that one must embrace them in order to count as an effective altruist, at least in part in the light of the goal of building a robust social movement capable of advancing its aims. The goal of building a social movement provides a strong reason for effective altruists to embrace an ecumenical set of core commitments. At the same time, there are risks involved in adopting an ecumenical approach to social movement building. In this paper, I develop a view about how effective altruists should characterize the movement’s core philosophical commitments, in light of the challenges of social movement building. I suggest that John Rawls’s idea of an “overlapping consensus” provides a useful model for thinking about the philosophical core and broader structure of the movement.

February 26

Jesse Lecy, Associate Professor, School of Community Resources and Development, Arizona State University

"The Political Economy of Nonprofit Entrepreneurship: Geographic and Economic Dimensions of Nonprofit Mission"

Watch LIVE

March 18

Nina Eliasoph, Professor of Sociology, University of Southern California

*Please note that this talk is on Monday rather than the typical Tuesday.

"Typical Styles of Navigating the Mismatched Promises of Empowerment Projects"

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March 26

Patricia Snell Herzog, Melvin Simon Chair and Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

"Meaning Making During Emerging Adulthood: Is Developing a Prosocial Orientation Part of Becoming an Adult?"

Watch LIVE

April 9

Jamie Levine Daniel, Assistant Professor of Public Affairs, IUPUI-SPEA

Ellie (Heng) Qu, Assistant Professor of Public Service and Administration, The Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University

"Is ‘Overhead’ a Tainted Word? A Survey Experiment on Framing Nonprofit Overhead Information"

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April 15

Lara Aknin, Assistant Professor of Social Psychology and Director, The Helping and Happiness Social Psychology Lab, Simon Fraser University

*Please note that this talk is on Monday rather than the typical Tuesday

"Does Generosity Promote Happiness in At-Risk and Antisocial Samples? A ‘Severe Test’ for the Emotional Rewards of Prosocial Spending"

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April 23

Elisabeth Clemens, William Rainey Harper Professor of Sociology, University of Chicago

"Civic Gifts: Voluntarism and the Making of the American Nation-State"

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Abstract: As both nation and state, the United States is a puzzle. How did a sense of shared nationhood develop despite the linguistic, religious, and ethnic differences among its settlers? How did a global power emerge from an often anti-statist political culture? One answer to these questions can be found in the unexpected political uses of voluntarism and benevolence, in the power of gifts to create ties among strangers and to mobilize communities. From the early Republic through the Second World War—with many natural disasters, economic crises, and municipal projects in between—civic benevolence elicited the commitments and the capacities needed to meet public challenges. This “expansible state” could be contained whenever citizens withdrew their participation in the co-production of public goods or displaced when expectations of the equality of independent democratic citizens were offended by the social etiquette of benevolence. The legacy of this combinatorial politics is a system of government that is profoundly infrastructural and dependent on partnerships with private actors if no longer on processes of civic mobilization and giving.

May 7

Stephen Knowles, Professor of Economics, Otago University

"In Search of Effective Altruists"

Watch LIVE

Instructions for Remote Access

You can actively participate in the talk through any of these options.

1) Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android

2) Or Telephone:

Dial: +1 646 558 8656 (US Toll) or +1 669 900 6833 (US Toll)
Meeting ID: 191 528 497
International numbers available

3) Or connecting from IU videoconferencing equipment:

Video Bridge: 26 191 528 497

4) Or connecting from videoconferencing equipment outside of IU:

H.323:

162.255.37.11 (US West)

162.255.36.11 (US East)

221.122.88.195 (China)

115.114.131.7 (India)

213.19.144.110 (EMEA)

202.177.207.158 (Australia)

209.9.211.110 (Hong Kong)

64.211.144.160 (Brazil)

69.174.57.160 (Canada)

Meeting ID: 191 528 497

SIP: 191528497@zoomcrc.com

5) Or Skype for Business (Lync)

Downloadable calendar

The Fall and Spring Philanthropy Research Workshop calendar in .ics format can be imported to Apple iCal, Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar. View instructions.

Download the Fall 2018-Spring 2019 calendar

Philanthropy Research Workshop

2018-2019 Schedule of Presenters

Fall 2018

November 27

December 4

Spring 2019

January 22

January 29

February 5

February 19

February 26

March 18

March 26

April 9

April 15

April 23

May 7

Instructions for Remote Access

Downloadable calendar

Lilly Family School of Philanthropy social media channels