Letters

We read with interest your article ‘Reframing the collaboration debate’ in the March 2011 of Alliance magazine, which cited the paper we wrote with the European Foundation Centre, Multiplying Impact through Philanthropic Collaboration. We are …

In the March issue of Alliance, among other things, Helmut Anheier suggests that European foundations should take accountability and transparency more seriously. These are challenging concepts right across Europe in every sector. Transparency and its …

‘Criticism fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things,’ Winston Churchill once pointed out. Without a doubt, Helmut Anheier is right when he suggests …

European foundations don’t score well in Helmut Anheier’s deficit analysis, yet the points of criticism are not new nor should they come as much of a surprise. Overall, however, they are certainly sobering and can’t …

I’m grateful for Jo Andrews’ very thoughtful opinion piece (‘Defining social justice philanthropy: spearing the sausage?’, Alliance March 2011) in which she challenges the notion that human rights funding is a subset of social justice …

No doubt Paul Shoemaker intends to provoke in his article ‘Raising the bar for philanthropy’ (December 2010). Taking the bait … in the legal world, the client pays for legal services, so reputation and word …

Paul Shoemaker (December 2010) is right: we have to raise the bar for philanthropy. He is right that a crucial success factor for the quality of philanthropy is the philanthropists themselves. But donor education is …

As an American working in the field of philanthropy advice and observing its evolution here, as well as in other regions of the world, I read the views of European philanthropic advisers in the latest …

Alliance is right to focus on the important role of intermediaries in the philanthropy sector but your emphasis on wealth advisers, private banks and other consultants may be misdirected. The most critical intermediaries to the …

Alliance is to be commended for dedicating its September issue to philanthropy advice and for avoiding its being perceived as an ‘advertising supplement’. Despite a bit of subtle pitching by some, there were some important …