Toxic Charity
Toxic Charity

Author: Robert D. Lupton

Publisher: HarperOne

Published: 2011-10-11

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780062076205

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Public service is a way of life for Americans; giving is a part of our national character. But compassionate instincts and generous spirits aren’t enough, says veteran urban activist Robert D. Lupton. In this groundbreaking guide, he reveals the disturbing truth about charity: all too much of it has become toxic, devastating to the very people it’s meant to help. In his four decades of urban ministry, Lupton has experienced firsthand how our good intentions can have unintended, dire consequences. Our free food and clothing distribution encourages ever-growing handout lines, diminishing the dignity of the poor while increasing their dependency. We converge on inner-city neighborhoods to plant flowers and pick up trash, battering the pride of residents who have the capacity (and responsibility) to beautify their own environment. We fly off on mission trips to poverty-stricken villages, hearts full of pity and suitcases bulging with giveaways—trips that one Nicaraguan leader describes as effective only in “turning my people into beggars.” In Toxic Charity, Lupton urges individuals, churches, and organizations to step away from these spontaneous, often destructive acts of compassion toward thoughtful paths to community development. He delivers proven strategies for moving from toxic charity to transformative charity. Proposing a powerful “Oath for Compassionate Service” and spotlighting real-life examples of people serving not just with their hearts but with proven strategies and tested tactics, Lupton offers all the tools and inspiration we need to develop healthy, community-driven programs that produce deep, measurable, and lasting change. Everyone who volunteers or donates to charity needs to wrestle with this book.

Understanding Nonprofit Organizations
Understanding Nonprofit Organizations

Author: Lisa A. Dicke

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-04-03

Total Pages: 552

ISBN-13: 1000874125

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

There are no easy solutions to the complexities faced by nonprofit leaders and managers. This textbook addresses the governance, leadership, and management functions of the thousands of organizations in the nonprofit sector that provide an enormous range of services. This thoroughly revised fourth edition of Understanding Nonprofit Organizations does not simply recount and summarize seminal literature; it presents 22 of the most important and informative articles, chapters, and essays written about the workings of nonprofit organizations, alongside 18 case studies that illustrate the complex governing, leading, and managing issues raised in the chapters. The introductions that open each of the sections explore important issues and concepts, provide context, and explain what students should be looking for as they read each of the chapters. Each section introduction has been extensively rewritten or updated to address recent movements and changes in the nonprofit field, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on all aspects of nonprofit organizations’ functions and ability to raise funds, increasing social and political divides within countries and communities, the gains and problems that have arisen with dramatic expansion of social media, and the need for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in our organizations and our society. Understanding Nonprofit Organizations provides a cohesive set of relevant readings for a course on nonprofit organizations and management, and instructors and students will appreciate the original case studies that parallel the major themes presented. The book is also designed for individuals who are hoping or planning to move into paid or voluntary leadership and management positions in nonprofit organizations—as well as for those already involved with nonprofits seeking to improve their skills and understanding of their chosen field.

The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, critical edition, Volume 7
The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, critical edition, Volume 7

Author: George Santayana

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-07-11

Total Pages: 397

ISBN-13: 0262321890

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The third of five books in one of the greatest works in modern philosophical naturalism. Santayana's Life of Reason, published in five books from 1905 to 1906, ranks as one of the greatest works in modern philosophical naturalism. Acknowledging the natural material bases of human life, Santayana traces the development of the human capacity for appreciating and cultivating the ideal. It is a capacity he exhibits as he articulates a continuity running through animal impulse, practical intelligence, and ideal harmony in reason, society, art, religion, and science. The work is an exquisitely rendered vision of human life lived sanely. In this third book, Santayana offers a naturalistic interpretation of religion. He believes that religion is ignoble if regarded as a truthful depiction of real beings and events; but regarded as poetry, it might be the greatest source of wisdom. Santayana analyzes four characteristic religious concerns: piety, spirituality, charity, and immortality. He is at his most profound in his discussion of immortality, arguing for an ideal immortality that does not eradicate the fear of death but offers a way for mortal man to share in immortal things and live in a manner that will bestow on his successors the imprint of his soul. This critical edition, volume VII of The Works of George Santayana, includes notes, textual commentary, lists of variants and emendations, bibliography, and other tools useful to Santayana scholars. The other four books of the volume include Reason in Common Sense, Reason in Society, Reason in Art, and Reason in Science.