Giving Compass' Take:

· Writing for The Johnson Center for Philanthropy, Michael Moody explains how the boundaries have blurred between philanthropy and business and discusses the need to redefine what philanthropy really is. 

· How can corporate philanthropy advance and make an impact in the years to come? 

· Read more about the history and landscape of corporate philanthropy.

For as long as we have used “sectors” to define society, we’ve been particularly fixated on the boundaries between those sectors, often letting those boundaries define the sectors themselves — why else use the odd term, “nonprofit?”

Advocates for one sector or another have often warned about the blurring of these boundaries. Proponents of philanthropy have cautioned against the dangers of becoming too “businesslike” and prioritizing profit over purpose (McCambridge, 2015). True believers in capitalism, like Milton Friedman, insisted that the genius of the free market would be undermined if businesses added “social responsibility” to their bottom line (Friedman, 1970).

But today, the increasing blurriness of sector boundaries is undeniable, and more and more people are embracing the potential good that more open sector borders might create. This is especially true for the boundary between for-profit and nonprofit, between the business and philanthropic sectors.

Read the full article about philanthropy and business by Michael Moody at The Johnson Center for Philanthropy.