Money and Societal Change: The Donor’s Role

Part of the way we transform society is by changing how people look at things. We are all responsible for shaping “agreement” in society—about what’s possible, what’s acceptable, what’s right, what’s wrong. For example, we used to agree as a society that women should not work outside the home, or that if you were gay, you had to keep it quiet. Some people or groups, like the media, have greater influence than others on what our agreements are. Those who have access to more resources, like money, have a special opportunity to influence agreement in the world, because they have easier access to opinion shapers—to the media, to nonprofits, to politicians. However, everyone has the ability to shape society’s agreements through the power of their beliefs and actions.