"The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
--Bahá’u’lláh, The Tablet of Maqsúd, 1882
International philanthropy signifies that increasingly, donors
today are more cosmopolitan in their professional lives, think
naturally in global terms, and are naturally interested in
international issues — significantly beyond what their actual
giving reflects: 2.1% of total private giving in 2004, according
to Giving USA. The Catalogue has been promoting
international giving as part of a “balanced portfolio” of
philanthropic investments, expressing the full range of donors’
interests and values today. Our message is: if you think United
States foreign policy leaves something to be desired, have one of
your own, in philanthropy.
In 2003-4, Massachusetts had 81 international charities with
budgets under $3 million and income over $25,000 — roughly 3.1%
of all charities, but only 2.4% ($40.9 million) of the total
income of charities in this group. The group does not include all
charities that do things internationally, but rather those whose
missions and programs are focused on, and intended primarily to
benefit, people in other nations than our own. Within the
International field, our taxonomy follows the general taxonomy of
domestic charities — divided into Nature, Culture, Human Services
and so on.
As one would expect, this is a newly developing field of American
philanthropy. By 1969 there were only seven designated
international public charities here. In the ’70s six were added;
in the ’80s the field doubled, with 17 additions (total: 30); in
the ’90s the increase doubled to 35 (total: 65); in this century,
there have been 15 additions. This increase will accelerate.
In Massachusetts, of the 81 small-to-mid-sized charities, only
three have income above $2 million; nine are at $1-2 million; 13
from $500,000-999,000; 36 from $100,000-499,000; and 20 less than
$100,000. This is not the whole picture, because many of our
largest charities work internationally with high dollar levels.
The distribution among subfields is: Nature: eight; Culture: 31,
with nine in Formal Education, 22 in Informal Education; Human
Services: 30, with seven in Children and Youth, eight in Health
and Aging, 15 in Well-Being.
The International field is on the move and ripe for further
development.
