philanthropy

Noun

philanthropy (countable and uncountable, plural philanthropies)

1. (uncountable) Benevolent altruism with the intention of increasing the well-being of humankind.
   • Secondly, Another excellent Diſpoſition in Chriſt, is his Love, not only his Phylanthropy, or good Will he bears to all men, and the Deſire he hath of their Salvation, Ezek[iel] 33. 11.1681, Bartholomew Ashwood, “Chap. IX. Opening somewhat of the Sweet Dispositions of Christ, viz. His Goodness, Love, and the Riches thereof, as to the Kind, Fruits, and Effects of It.”, in The Best...
   • [T]he spirit of the Gospel has given to many of its enlightened disciples, the impulse of such a philanthropy as carries abroad their wishes and their endeavours to the very outskirts of human population—philanthropy, of which, if you asked the extent or the boundary of its field, we should answer...1817, Ingram Cobbin, “Additional Notes”, in Philanthropy, a Poem: With Miscellaneous Pieces, London: Printed for James Black and Son, Tavistock-Street, Covent-Garden, →OCLC, pages 305–306
2. (uncountable) Charitable giving, charity.
   • As public funding is reduced, we depend increasingly on private philanthropy.
   • I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that does not impinge directly upon cupidity. If there is the least hint of philanthropy in the project, every man of money fights shy of it.1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad, London; Toronto: Ward, Lock & Co., →OCLC, →OL
3. (countable) A philanthropic act.
   • His tombstone lists his various philanthropies.
   • By all accounts Mrs. Morden was a faithful civic worker, unpretentious in her philanthropies which were carried on even after her retirement from Sunday School work. Her brother has a happy memory of the church's presenting her with a gift in appreciation of her long years of service.1948, Helen Krebs Smith, editor, With Her Own Wings: Historical Sketches, Reminiscences, and Anecdotes of Oregon's Pioneer Women, Portland, Or.: Beattie and Company, →OCLC, page 216
4. (countable) A charitable foundation.
   • the Rockefeller philanthropies
   • […] Walter Vrooman, a well-to-do Kansas liberal, and Charles A. Beard, undertook a philanthropy designed to build solidly on a British base. The scheme they worked out for a labor college at Oxford, Ruskin Hall, met with fairly cordial British response and in time played a role of some importance...1988, Merle [Eugene] Curti, “For Welfare and Culture”, in American Philanthropy Abroad (Society and Philanthropy Series), New Brunswick, N.J.; Oxford: Transaction Books, →ISBN, pages 184–185