Traditional philanthropy is also very good at supporting the mainstream institutionseducational, research, religious, social and culturalthat are invested in maintaining and improving society and its structures. Traditional philanthropy is based on responding to, treating and managing the consequences of life in a society with a capital-based economy. Progressive philanthropy, on the other hand, analyzes and responds more to cause than effect. Progressive philanthropy supports what is called social change, that is, actions that seek to right the imbalances of an unjust society or an unequal distribution of resources. For example, once warm and dry, flood victims may want to join together to advocate for effective yet environmentally sound flood control methods, including relocating businesses and houses out of the flood zone.
Progressive philanthropy strives to fund work that is proactive rather than reactive.
Progressive philanthropy's investment lies in supporting and facilitating change, challenging the assumptions that economic and social inequities are somehow unavoidable as the price of progress or prosperity. Changing the Face of Philanthropy Social change giving has taken on some new dimensions during the last 25 years. The social and economic justice movements of the 1960sthe Civil Rights Movement, the Student Movement and the Women's Movementall appealed to the American beliefs in justice and equality for all, and thus encouraged many people to become active in working for social and economic change. At the same time, many young people who inherited wealth were not philosophically comfortable with automatically continuing the giving traditions of their parents and grandparents to the usual philanthropic recipientshospitals, cultural institutions like opera and ballet, United Way and the Red Cross. Instead, they wanted to develop alternative avenues for funding that would support groups seeking the more fundamental social change represented by the social justice activities of their time.