Uncharitable - How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential

Uncharitable challenges the traditional nonprofit paradigm and argues that the sector is at an extreme disadvantage due to double standards and the prohibition of using capitalism to rectify social inequities. The book suggests that we can accelerate progress on social issues by declaring independence from obsolete ideas and advocating for equal economic rights for charity.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 344 pages
Publication date: 12 September 2022
Publisher: Brandeis University Press

Uncharitable delves into the potential and ethical implications of for-profit strategies within the nonprofit sector. It challenges the prevailing notion that the nonprofit paradigm is the sole solution and raises critical questions about our fundamental beliefs about charity. Author Dan Pallotta argues that the societal ethic of charity creates an inequality that deprives the nonprofit sector of essential tools and permissions that the for-profit sector enjoys without restriction. These double standards place the nonprofit sector at a significant disadvantage, as it is prohibited from utilizing any of the tools of capitalism. While capitalism is often blamed for societal inequities, charity is paradoxically prohibited from using these tools to address them, even in the name of philanthropy. Pallotta attributes this irrational system to four-hundred-year-old Puritan ethics that banished self-interest from the realm of charity. Today, these principles are enforced through watchdog agencies and the use of efficiency measures, which Pallotta argues are flawed, unjust, and should be abandoned. By declaring our independence from these obsolete ideas, Pallotta proposes, we can accelerate progress on the most pressing social issues of our time.

Uncharitable is a groundbreaking, thought-provoking, timely, and accessible book that serves as a manifesto for equal economic rights for charity. This edition features a new and updated introduction by the author, further enhancing its relevance and impact.

Dimension: 9 x 6 x 1 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781684581245