Economic Elites and Moral Leadership in Sustainable Development Philanthropy

Philanthropic foundations are one of the key ways that economic elites demonstrate the legitimacy of their wealth. They use philanthropic work to show their interest in improving society and promoting justice. Over the previous two decades, philanthropic giving has increasingly focused on international development and environmental programs. Consequently, philanthropists have become some of the most influential leaders within global sustainable development governance. However, these philanthropic foundations have also been heavily criticised. Development scholars have regularly argued that philanthropists favour a neoliberal worldview that is reflective of their own success in capitalist economic systems. They are known to support individualism and market development in the programs they fund. Major foundations have also been critiqued for their heavy reliance on qualitative data for determining the effectiveness of their expenditure – pushing funding recipients to implement activities that can be easily measured rather than those that strengthen communities and challenge entrenched power structures. Despite the extensive research on the programs of philanthropy foundations, we know very little about how these institutions operate in practice. Foundations have traditionally been resistant to attempts at increasing transparency in the sector. This paper explores the motivations and decision-making structures of philanthropic foundations. It asks the questions: ‘What are the values that shape the activities of philanthropic foundations?’ and ‘Who within those institutions is most responsible for determining those values?’ As private actors with a (notionally) public purpose, philanthropic foundations are a unique type of elite institution. This means we need a new theoretical framework to investigate them. We first draw on organisational culture literature to explore how the workplaces of foundations are constructed. We then combine this analysis with literature on public values to understand how the employees of foundations conceptualise the public good of their work and the power relations of philanthropy. Based on a series of interviews with program officers, middle managers and executives from a variety of philanthropic foundations, we build an understand of how values are disseminated within these institutions. In contrast with the dominant literature on philanthropy, which suggests that foundations are a product of the ideological preferences of their leaders, we find that the values that guide foundations are predominantly developed and driven by program staff. Additionally, middle managers and executives play an important role in translating the objectives and worldviews of their staff into language that is acceptable to foundation leaders. Although foundation employees (especially executives) are acutely focused on meeting the expectations of foundation leaders, they also see themselves as the drivers of the values that their foundations embody. Contrary to expectations, foundation founders and boards appear to often look to their staff to provide moral leadership and set the values of the institution. This paper contributes to the fields of philanthropic studies and public governance. Firstly, it provides a nuanced understanding of the role that values play in the decision-making processes of philanthropic foundations. Secondly, it expands the application of public values to include institutions that undertake public functions, but outside of government.