This paper focuses on exploring the issues around the mindsets (and orthodoxies) that inform philanthropy and giving. A mindset has been defined by scholars as a set of beliefs that shape how you make sense of the world and yourself.
Mindset influences how one thinks, feels, and behaves in any given situation. These mindsets or what some writers call ‘orthodoxies’ are deeply held beliefs about how things are done that often go unstated and unquestioned. These mindsets are not only individual traits, but they can be found in a host of places. Mindsets can be individual or they can be embedded in protocols of organizations and even in practices of an entire industry or different sections of society. The military may have its mindset, just as the church may also have its own mindset.

Mindsets are in themselves conventional wisdoms and help create standard practices that support people and organizations to function efficiently. Mindsets are also known to stimulate both productivity and unproductive resistance. Words like “that’s not how we do things around here” can sometime be mentioned to defend a certain mindset