The largest funds—Gates, Ford, Hewlett, Rockefeller, Lilly, Bloomberg, Getty, Wellcome, a roll-call of past and present tycoons—have a scale which pushes them towards conservatism. They tend to be attracted to a narrow problem-solving approach, using data and evidence to address specific issues which are seen as separate from the broader structural

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In the United States, more and more of these services and systems have been underfunded publicly (by taxes), and so philanthropy has stepped in. These are two sides of the American historical coin: we underinvest in our shared public systems while we celebrate individual generosity. This places a burden on voluntary acts and giving that is both too

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