Philanthropy in America

In October of 2010, I was invited to participate in Lviv's Ecumenical Social Week as the American representative at a round table discussion that included the Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine, the Vatican's Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, and the rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University. 

The topic I was asked to present on was Philanthropy in America. What follows is the text of my presentation.

I have been asked to speak about Philanthropy in America. But before I begin, I think it would be best if I gave you some idea of who I am and what it is that might qualify me to speak on this topic. Prior to coming to Ukraine a month ago, I was an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for nine years. I served congregations in Ohio and New York. So any thoughts I have about philanthropy in America are going to be from that perspective: What I have experienced at the local level in my pastoral ministry.

Also, just as all of you are proud of your Ukrainian heritage, I am proud my country and all she has accomplished over the course of her history. I am proud that according to a recent study down by the John’s Hopkins institute, “Americans give more to charity per capita and as a percentage of GDP than any other nation on earth.” Forbes Magazine, 12/26/2008 I am proud of how generous and compassionate America and her citizens have been in responding to such world crises as the 2004 tsunami in Asia and the earthquakes in Pakistan and Haiti. I am also proud of the congregations I served which were full of generous and compassionate people, who I believe they accurately represent the spirit of most Americans.

Do I think America’s perfect or above reproach? Of course not, but I am proud of America’s generous spirit. So I am honored to speak to you about philanthropy in America from my perspective as a parish pastor. I hope it will be useful to you in your own philanthropic efforts.

The theme for this ecumenical week: Philanthropy. Trust. Responsibility.
Captures a bit of wisdom that it took me a while to learn as a pastor. And that wisdom is this: Philanthropy needs to be done responsibly. Because if it is not – if philanthropy is done irresponsibly – then it can encourage dysfunctional behavior and create a spirit of irresponsibility and entitlement. By contrast, however, philanthropy that is done responsibly, empowers people to take on more responsibility in their own lives.


Take for example the social taxi service here in Lviv that is for people with special needs. It is a wonderful example of responsible philanthropy, because it enables people with special needs to become more integrated into the society by creating jobs for them, and giving them a sense of control and responsibility.

Let me share with you two examples from my ministry of irresponsible and responsible philanthropy. The first example happened soon after I became a pastor. A man came to me and told me that his mom was sick, and that he needed gas money to go see her.

I was moved by his story. As a young pastor, I had recently moved several hours away from my own parents and family, and so I could sympathize with his wanting to be with his sick mom. So I gave him the money, and then I prayed with him, and then he went on his way. And I felt really good that I had helped this man.

A day or two later, I was talking to an old, retired pastor in my congregation and I was still full of this good feeling. But as I began telling him this story the old veteran pastor said, “Hold on, let me guess, his parents were sick and he needed gas money to go see them, right?”

Well, I was shocked! How did he know? Then I realized that the reason he knew was that he had heard the same story many times before. It turned out people often went from church to church telling that story, or one like it, in order to get money for drugs or alcohol.

Sure enough, a few months later, I was at the church again, and this same guy walked in. Only this time he gave a different name, and told a different story.
When I told him I remembered him, he got angry with me and started cursing at me. Finally he stormed out of my office.

What I realized then was that I had been irresponsible in my philanthropy. And because I had been irresponsible, I had enabled this man to continue to be irresponsible, too. So I began to change the way I helped people. I started taking more time with them and checking into their stories. If they claimed they needed help with rent, I would call their landlord to confirm the need. Then I would give the money directly to the landlord. If they said they needed gas money, and I could confirm their need, then I would go with them to the gas station and pump the gas for them. Sometimes once they had gotten the help they needed, I would never see them again. Often, however, we would develop a relationship, and they would stay around for awhile.

Which leads to the other example I want to give you of responsible philanthropy. It is about a young couple who came to me and said they needed $300 to buy a car. Well, after we had talked for awhile, I realized they had the money they needed; they just were not managing it responsibly. So I offered to sit down with them and help them make a budget so they could see where their money was going each month.

As we did that, I pointed out to them how much money they were spending on cigarettes each month. At the time, cigarettes cost about $4 or $5 a pack. Between them, they were spending about $300 a month on cigarettes. So I said out to them, “There is the money you need for your car!”

Well, to make a long story short, I did not give them the money. What I did do was offer to help them quit smoking, and I also volunteered to drive them around until they could afford their car. In other words, we began to develop a relationship. And for awhile they stayed around; they worshiped at our church, attended a weekly bible study, and the woman even asked to be baptized. The point of all this is, if I had just given them the $300 to begin with none of the rest would have happened. I would have enabled their dysfunction.

Philanthropy without responsibility encourages irresponsibility and a sense of entitlement. However, philanthropy that is done responsibly builds relationships, and empowers people, and encourages them to become more responsible, too.

I was not alone in these efforts to do responsible philanthropy. When I was in Ohio, I was surrounded by a community of responsible philanthropists. Many of the local churches, both Catholic and Protestant, joined with our local schools and businesses and other citizens to develop what we called the Center for Human Needs.

It was an organization designed to help connect people in crisis with the resources they needed, while at the same time promoting strong families and community partnerships. In other words, our goal was to help people by developing relationships with them, and giving them a sense of control and responsibility in their own lives. Or, to borrow a quote from this ecumenical week: We sought to employ “the Christian values of mutual aid, love of neighbor, kindness, and charity in order to improve the fate of the people living in our community.”

And that is where I think the success of American philanthropy lies at the local level; in the churches and communities and individual citizens. What the Catholic Church calls “the principle of subsidiarity.” Which the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines as: the belief that “a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order in such a way as to deprive it of its functions.” paragraph 1883

It is my assertion, based on my experience, that responsible philanthropy is a function of the lower orders; the church and the community and individual citizens. It is only at that level that we can develop the kind of relationships necessary for responsible philanthropy.

As a constitutional republic, America has historically had a limited form of government, which has resulted in the responsibility to care for its citizens and people in need remaining at the local level. I believe this is why Americans are so generous, because responsible philanthropy has remained a function of the lower order communities.

In support of that assertion, I would again cite the study by Johns Hopkins that I mentioned before. While it found that America is the most charitable nation, it also found that countries “with higher taxes and bigger social safety nets tended to have lower rates of giving.” In fact, “Nations with cradle-to-grave welfare systems ranked” at the bottom. Forbes Magazine 12/26/2008

A concern I have as an America, however, is that over the last 50 years or so many in my country have developed a mindset that the national government is better able to care for the citizens than the citizens themselves. Again, to quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: when there is “excessive intervention by the state it can threaten personal freedom and initiative.” paragraph 1883

In other words, when the higher order takes over the functions of the lower order it reduces peoples’ sense of personal responsibility; both the people who need help, and the people who are in a position to offer help. Ultimately, the government can never do what the folks in my community were able to do at the local level; namely, build relationships, encourage personal responsibility, and transform lives.
I believe that the success of American philanthropy can be explained by the Catholic principle of subsidiarity. In order for philanthropy to be done well, it must be done responsibly, and so it is imperative that each and every citizen of a community take on the responsibility of living out the Christian values of “Mutual aid, love of neighbor, kindness, and charity in order to improve the fate of those living in their own community.”