Philanthropy, the Big Society and Emerging Philanthropic Relationships in the UK

In the UK, the Big Society programme seeks to encourage philanthropic giving. However, I argue that there is a tension between the Big Society's emphasis on citizen empowerment and the nature of emerging philanthropic relationships. Drawing upon a framework developed by Susan Ostrander (2007 Ostrander, S. A. 2007. The Growth of Donor Control: Revisiting the Social Relations of Philanthropy. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 36(2): 356–72. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), this article maps and analyses three types of philanthropic relationships in the UK: (1) donor-intermediary; (2) donor exclusive; and (3) donor oversight. Analysing these philanthropic relationships is salient as it draws attention to the role of philanthropy in the reshaping of the relationship between state, market and civil society in the context of the Big Society.