Cass Business School contributes to Harvard’s inaugural Global Philanthropy Report

Cass Business School's Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy (CGAP) has contributed to the inaugural ‘Global Philanthropy Report: Perspectives on the Global Foundation Sector’ on global foundations published by Harvard Kennedy School.

CGAP’s Professor Cathy Pharoah has undertaken this work as one of twenty institutional collaborators operating internationally.

The report represents the first steps in understanding worldwide philanthropic practices and trends, providing comparative analysis across countries and regions and developing a picture of the magnitude of global philanthropic investment.

Professor Cathy Pharoah said, "In identifying the extent of philanthropy’s global reach, the report finds over 260,000 foundations in 39 countries is highly concentrated with 60% of the total in Europe and 35% in North America. Foundation assets exceed $1.5 trillion USD; though since the study does not include all countries and since many foundations are reluctant to make public financial information, the true figure is certainly greater."

Education features very highly as a key area for foundations’ investment, much of this going to higher education and research. Biennial publication of the report is planned, to deliver increasingly comprehensive data, globally and within countries.

The report also notes that national collaborators are publishing more in-depth reports on philanthropy in their individual countries.

In Professor Pharoah's case, her leadership of the annual Foundation Giving Trends study in collaboration with the Association for Charitable Foundations continues; with the eleventh annual study for the UK due for publication in September 2018.