Philanthropy Gains Eager Followers in Business Schools

From Alison Damast at Bloomberg Businessweek:

When Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen first started teaching a philanthropy course at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2000, she quickly discovered she was a pioneer in the field. There were just a handful of case studies on the topic and few, if any, teaching materials, she says. As a result, it took her about a year-and-a-half to design the curriculum for it.

Ten years later, the landscape has drastically changed. Arrillaga-Andreessen has since published 25 case studies about philanthropy. This fall she will publish a book entitled Giving 2.0, which she hopes will serve as a resource for students engaged by the topic. Interest in her class has surged at Stanford and she now offers an undergraduate course, too. Says Arrillaga-Andreessen: “Almost every year, I’m oversold.”

She’s not alone. Today, dozens of MBA and undergraduate programs teach philanthropy as an academic subject, exposing students to both the art and science of giving...

Read the full article.