# Giving while living study published by Atlantic Philanthropies

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/06/19/giving-living-study-published/
- Published: 2017-06-19T16:01:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Atlantic Philanthropies, which provided hundreds of millions of dollars to charitable
causes in Ireland over 35 years, has published an overview of the principle of ‘
giving while living.’**

In December 2016, the foundation made its final grant, bringing the total awarded
throughout the world over 35 years to more than $8 billion. Atlantic will close 
its doors for good in 2020.

When Chuck Feeney decided over three decades ago to transfer virtually all his personal
fortune to what would become The Atlantic Philanthropies, he said he was doing it
out of a belief in ‘Giving While Living’ – the idea that individuals of great means
should use their money to help people during their lifetimes.

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In “The History of the Giving While Living Ethic,” historian Benjamin Soskis writes
that Giving While Living is a more complex phenomenon than that three-word slogan
would suggest.

Soskis breaks it down into three intertwined strands, exploring the distinct historical
development of each, while also highlighting the tensions that have emerged between
them and between limited life philanthropy.

·       The first imperative makes a transactional and temporal demand on the donor,
requiring him or her to commit money to charitable causes while still alive.
·  
The second requires the active engagement of the donor in administering or overseeing
the gift.·       And the third imperative is promotional and educative—the giving
must be done publicly, with an audience of other givers in mind.

Soskis shows how each of these three strands of Giving While Living flows through
long-running debates about the responsibilities of wealth and through the story 
of Feeney’s and The Atlantic Philanthropies’ commitment to entrepreneurial giving.

“[The History of the Giving While Living Ethic](http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org)”
is published on the Atlantic website.

## ⏎ Watch: Secret Billionaire: the Chuck Feeney story

 

 * **[How work goes on in a limited life foundation](http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/collections/limited-life-philanthropy)**

 * **[Atlantic makes Irish grants worth over $7 million](https://fundraising.co.uk/2011/10/18/atlantic-makes-irish-grants-worth-over-7-million/)**(
   18 October 2011)
 * **[Atlantic Philanthropies makes big grant as it nears end of grant giving](https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/09/18/atlantic-philanthropies-makes-big-grant-nears-end-grant-giving/)**(
   18 September 2014)
 * **[Atlantic allocates $36 million in Ireland](https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/11/04/atlantic-allocates-36-million-ireland/)**(
   4 November 2014)