Annually, since 2007, the Manhattan Institute has sponsored the William E. Simon forum on philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. This lecture series seeks to provide a framework—historical and current, scholarly and personal—for understanding the tradition and trends in American charity and charitable enterprises. Our first three lectures have ranged widely across these fields, including the 2007 talk by a distinguished historian, the 2008 talk by a renowned public policy essayist, and the December, 2009 lecture by the founder of the nation's most prominent management consulting firm for non-profits.