Phi·lan·thro·py noun is typically defined as the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes. It comes from the Late Latin from Greek philanthrōpia, from philanthrōpos 'man-loving'. Philanthropy is normally associated with an altruistic behavior that takes the form of charitable gifts of money and assets by individuals, foundations, or corporations. Philanthropy is sometimes distinguished from charity, because while charity aims to relieve the suffering associated with a particular social problem, the objective of philanthropy is to address the root cause of the problem.

There is a large academic literature that studies philanthropy from different disciplinary points of view, including marketing, evolutionary and biological psychology, neurology, sociology, political science, anthropology, and economics. Bekkers and Wiepking (2011) review this vast literature and classify philanthropic giving into eight categories: (1) awareness of need; (2) solicitation; (3) values; (4) efficacy; (5) reputation; (6) altruism; (7) psychological benefits; and (8) costs and benefits. The majority of those studies examine the impact of philanthropic giving on the recipients. Some studies examine the influence of philanthropic giving mainly on the political and economic benefits derived by individual givers and foundations.

There are two main sources of controversy about philanthropy. The first has to do with the tax treatment of philanthropic donations and the second relates to the power of large foundations. According to Reich (2013), in 2011, US tax subsidies for charitable giving amounted to nearly USD 54 billion. Total giving in the US that year was about USD 300 billion. Hence, nearly 20% of "donations" were actually funded by the US taxpayer. The situation is made worse by the fact that in the US, tax subsidies for philanthropic donations tend to be regressive (i.e., for any given donation, richer taxpayers tend to receive a larger subsidy, (Thaler, 2010)). In Reich's (2013) words: "foundations do not simply express the individual liberty of rich people. We all pay, in lost tax revenue, for foundations, and, by extension, for giving public expression to the preferences of rich people." The issue of the political power of large philanthropic organizations is discussed in detail in a 2014 essay by Gara LaMarche, the former head of two large US-based foundations, Atlantic Philanthropies and the Open Society Institute. LaMarche recounts that he started having doubts about "the legitimacy of philanthropy in its engagement with the democratic process" when the leaders of American philanthropy joined forces in opposing President Obama's proposal to cap the income tax deduction for charitable contributions in order to fund his health care reform.

The above events were part of the catalyst for a radical change in giving. In August 2010, 40 of America's wealthiest individuals and couples joined together in a commitment to give more than half of their wealth away. Created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, the Giving Pledge came to life following a series of conversations with philanthropists around the world about how they could collectively set a new standard of generosity among the ultra-wealthy. Today, the pledge includes 185 of the world's wealthiest individuals, couples, and families, ranging in age from their 30s to their 90s. Globally, they represent 22 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland and Taiwan), Cyprus, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Monaco, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey, Ukraine, UAE, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Giving Pledge highlighted a new form of givers generally referred to as 'Thoughtful Funders'. As oppose to some traditional philanthropic exchanges, where the donor was engaged at the discretion of the institution in receipt of the funds, the Thoughtful Funder is interested to be fully engaged, beyond the tax and political power it might yield. 'Exercise' to rethink philanthropy were launched around the world. One notable exercise was a full-day forum that gathered more than 20 high-level speakers-philanthropists, entrepreneurs, leaders, academic and development experts-debating the main innovations, successes but also limits of today's "philanthro-capitalism". A particular focus was brought to the African continent, which concentrates both the world's greatest challenges and hopes (https://www.rethinking-philanthropy.ch/en/). Once again, none of those exercises/forums really dealt with the impact of giving on the new/emerging so-called Thoughtful Funders.