8 Fiction Books about Philanthropy, Nonprofits, and Wealth

1 year ago 83

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In 2021, the projected world TV amusement The Activist ruffled a batch of people’s feathers, peculiarly successful the nonprofit sector. The basal premise was that activists and celebrities would vie successful challenges to rise consciousness for their causes with the hopes of going to the G20 Summit. 

Needless to say, the amusement was cancelled earlier it aired. Vu Le, writer and thinker down Nonprofit AF, explained the cancellation best: “Forcing activists to vie against 1 different successful a Hunger Games for the crumbs thrown retired by the wealthy. Measuring occurrence done societal media engagement. Having celebrities who cognize small to thing astir these issues judging activists with years of experience. And doing it each arsenic entertainment.”

I’m a writer and writer; by day, I’m a fundraising researcher. In different words I probe individuals, foundations, and companies for our nonprofit clients to assistance them rise funds for their respective causes. So naturally, I’m fascinated erstwhile discussions of philanthropy and nonprofits travel up successful regular beingness since I walk truthful overmuch clip reasoning astir motivations and wealth.

I find it fascinating what radical recognize astir nonprofits arsenic depicted successful movies, books, oregon adjacent societal media (fiction oregon not). My hubby volition archer you that I americium known for yelling astatine the TV erstwhile I spot thing that does not ringing existent successful the nonprofit world.

When I’m not yelling astatine the media, I americium funny successful however philanthropy and wealthiness amusement up successful fabrication and however those depictions tin item oregon critique the tract that I enactment in. So present are 8 precocious published books that research antithetic facets of the philanthropic world. Some of the books absorption connected accepted philanthropy and nonprofits; others absorption connected wealth, patronage and more.

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Trust cover

Trust by Hernan Diaz

Speaking of wealth, Trust provides a multifaceted presumption of wealthiness and the emergence of the affluent and celebrated successful the aboriginal 1900s. The publication opens with an excerpt of the “famous” publication Bonds, written successful 1938, that tells the communicative of a affluent financier and his elusive wife. But it’s not the lone mentation of the story. Told successful 4 parts, the communicative and its interpretations of this mates unfolds. What was absorbing was the thread astir wealth-making and philanthropy. The financier makes a batch of wealth disconnected of the Black Thursday portion everyone other was losing their shirts. His woman has been a patron of the arts, supporting artists and charities, utilizing the wealth that they got from the market… 

It’s an absorbing look astatine the phenomena we are seeing en masse today: billionaires getting wealthier and wealthier arsenic radical suffer, and past donating their wealth backmost to societal services and much to alleviate the suffering.

The Long Corner publication  cover

The Long Corner by Alexander Maksik

Solomon Fields, a washed up journalist, hates his enactment successful the advertizing and creation world. He feels that helium has disappointed his Bohemian grandma who escaped the Nazis and wanted him to unrecorded his beingness to the fullest. When she dies unexpectedly, Fields quits his occupation and takes up an absorbing accidental penning a illustration astir Sebastian Light, a mysterious patron of the arts who has a backstage edifice for artists to create. Light is simply a unusual antheral who has built a benignant of cult of property with the artists that helium supports. Fields is simultaneously drawn and repelled by the resort; is this edifice existent oregon is it a amusement for his benefit? I deliberation the publication does a large occupation exploring the analyzable narration betwixt affluent patrons and the artists they support.

Benefit cover

Benefit by Siobhan Phillips

When Laura gets a fellowship from the Weatherfield Foundation to survey astatine Oxford University, it’s the accidental of a beingness for her. But she feels acceptable isolated from her chap students; they came from privileged backgrounds and she did not. When she loses her occupation years later, a person helps her get a occupation astatine the Foundation to constitute its past for its 100th anniversary. But arsenic she dives into the past, she finds the foundation’s wealthiness is built connected slavery and pain. Not to mention, erstwhile she reaches retired to her erstwhile alumni, she finds retired that the world satellite has a acheronian side. It’s an important satire looking astatine the satellite of foundations and fellowships successful academia.

Dava Shastri's Last Day cover

Dava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti

Have you ever been funny to cognize what your obituary would accidental if you were to pass? Wealthiest pistillate successful the world, Dava Shastri decides to stitchery her children astatine her backstage land by announcing her decease prematurely and fto them spot her obituaries, reasoning she’ll beryllium praised for each of her philanthropy. Instead, secrets she wanted to stay hidden are revealed. Can she reconcile her past earlier her death? Can philanthropy close past wrongs oregon does it simply greenwash them?

The Appeal cover

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

The Appeal is a execution enigma composed of emails, memos, substance messages, and different ephemera. Two lawyers are tasked to reappraisal the documents by a elder spouse due to the fact that helium thinks that the incorrect idiosyncratic went to jailhouse and that the slayer revealed it successful the documents. It opens connected Fairway Players rehearsing their play All My Sons; a caller idiosyncratic has joined the cast, precocious returned from Africa wherever she worked successful healthcare with her husband. But the play becomes much than conscionable a play erstwhile the granddaughter of the manager and his wife, who plays the lead, is diagnosed with encephalon cancer. Everyone gears up to rise wealth to wage for experimental attraction for the young girl. But past things spell southbound erstwhile 1 of the formed members turns up dead. It’s a fascinating look astatine the pressures of crowdsourcing for wellness reasons arsenic good arsenic the challenges and risks of planetary assistance work.

Take My Hand cover

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Nonprofits are expected to assistance people, right? Sadly, that’s not ever oregon adjacent presently true. Take My Hand explores the horrible past of forcibly sterilizing mostly Black and mediocre women successful the U.S. Civil Townsend joined Montgomery Family Planning Clinic arsenic a caregiver to assistance supply aesculapian attraction to the section assemblage successful 1975. She becomes adjacent to a section household wherever she was told to administer injections to their young girls aged 11 and 13, which seems highly young. But soon she learns that the injections caused much harm than good. The Family Planning Clinic whitethorn beryllium causing harm to the precise radical she wanted to help. Can she marque amends? 

Give Unto Others cover

Give Unto Others by Donna Leon

This is the 31st publication successful Donna Leon’s unthinkable Commissario Guido series. Commissario Guido is simply a vice-commissario of Venetian police. He has has been asked by an aged person of his mother’s for a favor. Her daughter’s husband, an accountant, has intimated that helium whitethorn person enactment them each successful danger. The aged person asks Guido to find retired what mightiness beryllium going on. Deciding against his champion instincts, helium looks into it, focusing connected the husband’s enactment arsenic an accountant. As Guido investigates, determination are hints that determination whitethorn beryllium thing disconnected with the foundation that the hubby had worked for. This is simply a large bid that examines the satellite of wealthiness and charity.

Twelve Tomorrows cover

Twelve Tomorrows, “Byzantine Empathy” by Ken Liu

So this abbreviated communicative whitethorn not beryllium truthful caller but it deals with nonprofits and cryptocurrency, which is simply a taxable that I americium fascinated by. Originally published successful Twelve Tomorrows, edited by Wade Roush, the communicative explores the thought of utilizing cryptocurrency and Virtual Reality successful the nonprofit sector. We cognize that empathy is captious successful getting radical to enactment philanthropic causes, but is determination a bounds to what empathy tin bash oregon what exertion tin do? What if you utilized Virtual Reality to spot into the perspectives of radical who are facing oppression? And you tin springiness cryptocurrency straight to those people? Two erstwhile roommates look each different connected antithetic sides of the equation of however to marque the satellite a amended place.


Hopefully you’ll find these reads to bring up important and indispensable questions astir the nonprofit world. If you privation much fabrication books connected philanthropy, here’s my database of four further books, oregon if you privation nonfiction astir philanthropy, cheque retired different database of five nonfiction books that I enactment together.

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