what are philanthropic activities?

Answer 1

Activities done to provide humanitarian or charitable assistance. Working in soup kitchen might be one. Giving money to any charity, or working without pay for a charity.

Answer 2

Philanthropy is the act of donating money, goods, time, or effort to support a charitable cause, usually over an extended period of time and in regard to a defined objective. In a more fundamental sense, philanthropy may encompass any altruistic activity which is intended to promote good or improve human quality of life. Someone who is well known for practicing philanthropy may sometimes be called a philanthropist. Although such individuals are often very wealthy, people may nevertheless perform philanthropic acts without possessing great wealth.

Philanthropy is a major source of income for artistic, musical, religious, and humanitarian causes, as well as educational institutions ranging from schools to universities (see patronage).

During the past few years, philanthropy has become more mainstream in terms of press coverage, owing to the high-profile of rock star Bono and his campaign to alleviate Third World debt to developed nations; the enormity of the Gates Foundation's resources and ambitions, such as eradicating malaria and river blindness; and billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chair Warren Buffett's donation in 2006 of $30 billion to the Gates Foundation. At the same time, young, rich, socially conscious entrepreneurs such as eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are trying to change philanthropy through unique networks and new forms of giving. Google's efforts are largely considered "for-profit," meaning it will not be constrained in how it spends by the 501(c)(3) section of the Internal Revenue Service code (though the Google Foundation, considered under the umbrella of Google.org, is in fact non-profit). The feeling is also that it will not restrict itself to conventional giving or old-line foundations when it comes to social investments. The concept of measurable life change, with direct investments and follow-up to track results, is gaining more recognition through the above big names, but also through smaller organizations.