Dr. Michael Moody

Michael Moody, Ph.D., is Professor of Philanthropic Studies at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, Indianapolis. Trained as a cultural sociologist with a special emphasis on philanthropic theory and ethics, he has been actively working to understand and improve philanthropy and nonprofit organizations for nearly 35 years, often by actively bridging scholarship and professional practice.

Dr. Moody is co-author of the books Understanding Philanthropy: Its Meaning and Mission (with Robert Payton), The Philanthropy Reader (with Beth Breeze), and Generation Impact: How Next Gen Donors Are Revolutionizing Giving (with Sharna Goldseker), as well as many other publications for both scholarly and practitioner audiences. His research and theoretical writing has been published in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Nonprofit Management and Leadership, The Foundation Review, Sociological Theory, and several prominent edited volumes.

This scholarship focuses on topics such as the theory and social role of philanthropy, ethical challenges in giving, Gen X and Millennial giving, family foundations, donor learning, venture philanthropy, the notion of “giving back,” and nonprofits’ debates about the public good, and many other topics.

His work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

In addition to his extensive university teaching experience, Dr. Moody has developed and taught numerous professional education courses for grantmakers and donors.