The PhiLanthropic Year

The PhiLanthropic Year is a journal that specializes in the transmission of scientific and professional knowledge within the philanthropic sector, and more specifically, grantmaking philanthropy. The journal meets the need of rendering available, in French and English, knowledge mainly produced by or highlighted by the scientific activities that take place within the Canadian Philanthropy Partnership Research Network (PhiLab).

The PhiLanthropic Year publishes scientific and professional articles that meet the basic requirements of scientific publication. The journal has a peer-reviewed committee as well as basic editorial guidelines that ensure a quality standard for the texts it publishes. These latter take on different forms – articles, chronicles, critical book reviews- and find themselves somewhere between formal and informal scientific articles. These texts, while respecting the ethical norms of scientific and professional publications, are shorter – a dozen pages or less – and lighter (less emphasis on the methodological aspects and more on the results or analysis) than your average scientific publication.

Published annually, each issue is taken in charge by a different editorial team that is connected to PhiLab. The team, from a management point of view, is responsible for the design as well as the creation and management of a call for contributions. By publishing the PhiLanthropic Year, we make sure to act as a complement to the existing offer of scientific literature and publications directed to the general public. By being available online and offered free of charge, the journal paves the way to the dissemination of content generated by or stemming from research mainly conducted in partnership with actors of the philanthropic ecosystem.

The PhiLanthropic Year is part of a global strategy implemented by PhiLab to spread awareness of the successes as much as of the issues of the Canadian philanthropic ecosystem while paving the way for comparisons with existing practices from around the world. Finally, let us recognize that the creation of our journal could not have been possible without the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

The PhiLanthropic Year – Volume 4 – Fall 2022

Initially, the case for openness, transparency and accountability can seem relatively straight forward: simply provide more information in an open and accessible fashion. Yet, as the 2022 edition of The Philanthropic Year illustrates, there is a lot of action beneath what would otherwise appear to be a calm exterior. Openness, for example, sounds good. But open to whom about what? Is the foundation’s wealth history open to scrutiny or camouflaged under a blanket of good deeds and founder profiles? Is the profile of board members, managers and staff full and robust? Does diversity and equity manifest itself from boardroom to project manager? These are all questions that are raised in one way or another in The Philanthropic Year.

Publication Directors

Jean-Marc Fontan & Peter R. Elson
Editors in Chief
Jean-Marc Fontan & Peter R. Elson
Edition Coordination
Katherine Mac Donald
Graphic Design
Sare Nalbantoglu Aslankiliç

The PhiLanthropic Year – Volume 3 – Winter 2021

Funders, especially private philanthropic foundations, have been heavily criticized for being unaccountable to communities, undemocratic, and powered by wealth that has been generated in extractive and harmful ways. Current grantmaking and fundraising practices also reproduce inequitable dynamics wherein people with more power and privilege hold control over funding flows, and communities and marginalized groups are relegated to the role of passive recipients. We know that philanthropy needs to shift these power dynamics in order to become more equitable and effective. In this edition of The PhiLanthropic Year, we explore some of the practices in both fundraising and grantmaking that are trying to make this vision a reality. Since March 2020, we’ve seen a blossoming of community-led approaches to grantmaking and wealth redistribution. These approaches meet immediate needs, while working toward a more just, democratic, and equitable post-COVID society. Examples include community-driven grantmaking, participatory grantmaking, shared gifting, giving circles, mutual aid initiatives, and “caremongering” networks. At the same time, within the fundraising profession, people of colour, Indigenous people, women, and queer and non-binary people are calling for deep reflection on how nonprofits and communities can raise money without reinforcing racial, class, colonial, and gender inequities.

Publication Directors

Jean-Marc Fontan & Peter R. Elson
Editors in Chief
Juniper Glass & Adam Saifer
Edition Coordination
Katherine Mac Donald
Graphic Design
Sare Nalbantoglu Aslankiliç

L’Année PhiLanthropique – Volume 2 – Winter 2020

Our work is ultimately about honouring the wisdom, innovation, and philanthropy of Indigenous peoples, organizations, and nations. One of the ways we seek to support this work is through encouraging the Settler-created philanthropic sector to learn to think and do differently with Indigenous peoples and organizations – but also, to transform their work alongside all other equity-seeking communities. Whether through changes to grantmaking systems or developing policies for investment strategies that seek to do less harm to the backs and lands of Indigenous peoples locally and globally – we know that there is an active community of people doing thoughtful, strategic, and impactful work – and – we know that work doesn’t always take the format of a typical research project. As a commitment to decentering behaviours of white supremacy in our approach, we prioritize research from a frame of shared learning and knowledge mobilization whereby we ask ourselves – is this learning that can help amplify & accelerate transformation? Will the results of this learning have multiple applications across audiences related to practice and policy? Is there an opportunity for folks to do the sense-making of their own data and learning to share  with others?  Can we  mobilize this knowledge into multiple formats for accessibility and thereby inclusion? Are we able to do learning and mobilize wisdom that enables a deepening appreciation for slowing down, building relationships of trust and accountability and making our learning visible for our peers?

Publication Directors

The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada
Editors in Chief
Kris Archie & Jean-Marc Fontan
Editorial team
Shereen Munshi & Katherine Mac Donald
Graphic Design
Katherine Mac Donald & Diane Alalouf-Hall

Pour lire la revue version feuilletée, c’est ici

The PhiLanthropic Year – Hors-Série COVID-19 – May 2020

Who hasn’t thrown stones into a stream to see the waves it causes and their intertwingling? The COVlD-19 global pandemic is a huge rock that creates a multitude of intertwined waves. Few events have the power to generate an impact of this magnitude. lt affects everyone, all organizations and institutions, including the world of philanthropy and society as a whole. As a result of the pandemic, needs are emerging from everywhere. lt is not only the poorest people in our  society  who  are  affected,  but  the  entire population. And everyone must react, adapt and do their part. Whether  it  is  in  health,  education,  the  economy, culture or politics… we need to change our ways, not only to react to the crisis situation, but also to adapt to the changes and the “new reality” that is slowly taking hold. Unlike a stone thrown into the water, we are not the ones who can just stop throwing stones. We can just help by taking public health measures and getting involved in our community. More than ever, solidarity and  a  sense  of  community,  key  elements  of philanthropy, are in evidence.

Publication Directors

Jean-Marc Fontan
Editorial team
Jean-Marc Fontan
Diane Alalouf-Hall
Katherine Mac Donald
Francois Brouard
Lynn Gidluck
Roza Tchoukaleska
Caroline Bergeron
Manuel Litalien
Graphic Design
Katherine Mac Donald & Diane Alalouf-Hall

Pour lire la revue version feuilletée, c’est ici

The PhiLanthropic Year – Volume 1 –  April 2019

The PhiLanthropic Year publishes scientific and professional articles that meet the basic requirements of scientific publication. The journal has a peer-reviewed committee as well as basic editorial guidelines that ensure a minimum standard for the texts it publishes. These latter take on different forms – articles, chronicles, critical book reviews, and find themselves somewhere between formal and informal scientific articles. These texts, while respecting the ethical norms of scientific and professional publications, are shorter – a dozen pages or less – and lighter (less emphasis on the methodological aspects and more on the results or analysis) than your average scientific publication.

Publication Directors

Jean-Marc Fontan
Editors in Chief
Jean-Marc Fontan
Editorial team
Jean-Marc Fontan
Sylvain A. Lefèvre
Diane Alalouf-Hall
Katherine Mac Donald
Graphic Design
Katherine Mac Donald

Pour lire la revue version feuilletée, c’est ici