Swinburne signs agreement with Harvard on Global Philanthropy Report

Swinburne  has signed an agreement with the Ash Center for Democratic Government and Innovation at Harvard University to develop the Australian chapter of the Global Philanthropy Report.

The report will provide first-of-a-kind data on institutional philanthropic investment. It will allow comparative analysis between countries and regions and develop a picture of the magnitude of global philanthropic investment.

In much of the world publicly-available philanthropic data and knowledge are scarce, says Professor John Fitzgerald, Truby and Florence Williams Chair of Social Investment and Philanthropy at Swinburne.

“Although institutionally-based philanthropy is growing throughout the world, there is not much reliable information on giving available,” Professor Fitzgerald says.

“There is no globally comparable data to quantify the volume of giving, classify its purpose, or seek to understand its impact.”

Swinburne will work with the Ash Center and researchers in countries around the world to:

• access existing data
• develop new knowledge, and
• create a framework through which to understand and compare global philanthropic investment flows and practices.

Specific objectives are to:

• track and map institutional philanthropic data at the national level
• aggregate data, compare it across countries and disseminate it publicly; and
• build the capacity of organisations within individual countries to provide ongoing and regular information on the national philanthropic sector.

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