Premium
Evaluating philanthropic foundations according to their social values
Author(s) -
Whitman John R.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
nonprofit management and leadership
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.844
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1542-7854
pISSN - 1048-6682
DOI - 10.1002/nml.196
Subject(s) - foundation (evidence) , referent , vision , sociology , work (physics) , epistemology , political science , public relations , law , engineering , philosophy , linguistics , mechanical engineering , anthropology
Philanthropic foundations are seen as enterprises committed to building what they view as a better world. Their visions of a better world are described in terms of social values that represent preferred end states for society or means of achieving such states. This article describes a procedure in which a foundation's espoused social values, made explicit, may serve as a referent to evaluate the foundation's performance. The process by which social values are determined is offered as a means to promote critical and reflective discourse not only within the foundation but with the public, especially those affected by the foundation's work.