( Washington , DC ) - INDEPENDENT SECTOR will honor Robert L. Payton with the John W. Gardner Leadership Award for his lifelong commitment to the study of philanthropy.
The John W. Gardner Award will be presented to Mr. Payton in recognition of his work to increase the understanding of the principles, ethics, and professional practice of philanthropy.
Since the 1980s, Mr. Payton has been an early proponent of the scholarly study of the nonprofit sector and has advocated for the creation of academic centers at colleges and universities nationwide. As a result of his leadership, the study of "philanthropics" is now taught at nearly 50 research centers, and an estimated 500 colleges offer coursework on some aspect of the sector. Additionally, 250 universities offer degree programs and as many as 50 graduate business schools and schools of public administration offer degree concentrations in nonprofit management.
As one of the founders and the first full-time director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University , Mr. Payton championed the study and teaching of philanthropy at liberal arts schools in higher education where theory and practice could be bridged. No other academic center was formed around the juncture of nonprofit fundraising practice and liberal arts study of philanthropy and its role in society.
The award of $10,000 will be bestowed to Mr. Payton at INDEPENDENT SECTOR's Annual Conference on November 3 in San Francisco , California .
"Bob Payton's work was seminal in the study of philanthropy. Through his legendary efforts, we now have rigorous education programs and research in philanthropy and nonprofit management in the United States and around the world," said Diana Aviv, president and CEO, INDEPENDENT SECTOR. "He is a builder of institutions, and like John Gardner, a builder of infrastructure," added Aviv.
Mr. Payton has long recognized the importance of research on the sector. He served as the first chair of INDEPENDENT SECTOR's Research Committee for which he convened a diverse group of academic researchers and practitioners to lay the foundation for the organization's work to measure the field of philanthropy.
Through his patronage, the Joseph and Matthew Payton Philanthropic Studies Library at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where the Indiana Center is headquartered, has a world-renowned collection of philanthropy materials. Mr. Payton has also worked to establish the Ruth Lilly Special Collection & Archives' Philanthropy Archival Collections of records and papers from leading philanthropic institutions, which, together with the philanthropic studies library, comprise an important resource center for the study of the sector.
Mr. Payton has mentored legions of young emerging and mature leaders in the roots and traditions of philanthropy. He created the Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellowship program in 1991 and designed the first Executive Leadership Institute for the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
He encouraged the development of the International Society for Third-Sector Research, the principal international scholarly association in the field. As communism began to fall in Eastern Europe , Mr. Payton was among the first to begin initiatives there to promote philanthropy and voluntary association as an essential part of civil society and a working democracy.
The John W. Gardner Award, created in 1985, recognizes individuals working in or with the voluntary sector who build, mobilize, and unify people, institutions or causes to raise the capacity of others to improve society nationally and internationally.
The award is named in honor of the founding chairperson and chairperson emeritus of INDEPENDENT SECTOR, John W. Gardner (1912-2002). The award is sponsored by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.
Harris L. Wafford, chairman of America 's Promise, received the 2002 John W. Gardner Award.
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INDEPENDENT SECTOR is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of more than 700 national nonprofit organizations, foundations, and corporate philanthropy programs, collectively representing tens of thousands of charitable groups in every state across the nation. Our mission is to promote, strengthen, and advance the nonprofit and philanthropic community to foster private initiative for the public good.
