As noted in Axios' Philanthropy Deep Dive on Saturday, philanthropists are big-picture strategic thinkers who generally want to use their money to influence government. By their nature, they're generally unaccountable and undemocratic forces in society.
The big picture: Giving Tuesday, which just passed, is a countervailing force to the prevailing philanthropic winds. It serves no strategic purpose; it merely encourages ordinary citizens to give money to charity on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. (The bigger long-term trend is that household donations to charity are declining, rather than rising.)
This year,Giving Tuesday raised an estimated $511 million for charity online, and $2 billion in total — all in a distributed, democratic manner.
The news headlines, however, went to the New York Philharmonic, which is attempting to raise $550 million to refurbish its current home.
That project involves removing more than 500 seats from the auditorium and disappearing Richard Lippold's glistening "Orpheus and Apollo" sculpture.
The exterior of the orchestra's home will not be touched, which has helped keep the budget below the previous $900 million estimate. Still, $15 million has already been spent paying the family of Avery Fisher to allow his eponymous hall to be renamed in honor of David Geffen.
