There is a broad consensus among the scholars contributing to this book that traditional philanthropy, which is driven by the ‘love of humankind’ and the wellbeing of others, has the potential to be transformative and address inequalities and injustices as well as to provide relief to the poor. Some of the activities of contemporary charity organisations, such as War on Want, Action Aid, Open Society and Oxfam, to name a few, also support advocacy work that is motivated by a social justice agenda. However, New Philanthropy is more contentious as it reflects a relationship between giving and business interest, and the associated agency puts new philanthropists into a position of power and influence over the political and economic control of outcomes. The generosity of super-rich philanthropists is undoubted and we have seen plenty of that in recent years. The question of concern is not whether new philanthropy is good or bad, but what motivates this form of giving and whether the sources of new philanthropy funding are legitimate (Sayer, 2014).

The often-stated rationale for new philanthropists’ involvement with charity is to help others benefit from their ‘wealth creation’. Some philanthropists establish their own foundations through which they channel significant donations, but they also serve to apply technocratic, market-based approaches and business principles to identify ‘solutions’ to complex problems, such as global poverty, social protection and food security. While traditional philanthropists were motivated, in part, by their belief that giving would help protect the poor and reduce inequality, the focus of new capitalist philanthropists is addressing the growing gap between the rich and the poor within the global marketplace (upon which many have in fact built their wealth). There are many high-profile examples of philanthropist activity that have assisted poor people, but the ‘innovative’ solutions to poverty are typically targeted at dealing with the symptoms of poverty and not the underlying inequality. As Edwards (2010, p12) points out, there aren't many new philanthropists who ‘are prepared to invest in the challenges of long-term institution building, the deepening of democracy, or the development of a different form of market economy in which inequality is systematically attacked’.