Labor Day has come and gone. Summer’s over and the kids are back in school. The daily rigor of math tables and spelling and vocabulary lists has begun.
When those vocab lists start coming home, I wonder if “philanthropy” will ever be on the list. And if it is, how many of us would be able to spell it or pronounce it, and what would be the definition the teacher would expect students to memorize?
MCF co-produced a video in 2004 titled “Philanthropy Is.” Through “person-on-the-street” encounters, it becomes clear in the piece that some people have never heard the funny-sounding word before or thought about its meaning. Through interviews with donors, it also becomes clear that what philanthropy means to each donor is as individual as the donor.
Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines philanthropy as “goodwill to fellowmen; active effort to promote human welfare.”
Wikipedia states: “Philanthropy derives from Ancient Greek, meaning ‘to love people.’ Philanthropy is the act of donating money, goods, services, time and/or effort to support a socially beneficial cause, with a defined objective and with no financial or material reward to the donor.”
Neither of these definitions resonated with me. They lacked the passion, earnestness and commitment that I’ve come to associate with philanthropy.
What is most striking to me, though, is that philanthropy is not a verb. Aren’t verbs action words, and isn’t the very nature of philanthropy “action?” I’ve yet to meet a philanthropist or someone working in philanthropy who wasn’t all about “doing.”
Imagine using “philanthropy” as a verb.
Did you ever think you’d see the day when the more common usage of “friend” was as a verb? That must be wreaking havoc with teachers who have “friend” as a vocabulary word in their lesson plans!
Now that those funny-sounding words “google” and “bing” have become verbs too, how much action would it take by all of us to turn the tongue-twisting word – “philanthropy” – into a commonly used verb?
- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate
