| Acknowledgements | 第1-4页 |
| Abstract | 第4-6页 |
| 摘要 | 第6-9页 |
| Chapter I Introduction | 第9-20页 |
| ·An Introduction to Modern Philanthropic Foundations | 第9-13页 |
| ·Philanthropy in History | 第9-10页 |
| ·Definitions of Philanthropic Foundations | 第10-11页 |
| ·Features and types of Modern Philanthropic Foundations | 第11-13页 |
| ·Literature Review | 第13-18页 |
| ·Purpose and Structure of this Thesis | 第18-20页 |
| Chapter II An Overview of Modern Philanthropic Foundations in the U.S | 第20-33页 |
| ·The Development of Modern Philanthropic Foundations in the U.S | 第20-23页 |
| ·Pre-WWII: the Rising Period (1889-1939) | 第20-22页 |
| ·The Gospel of Wealth | 第20-21页 |
| ·A General Account of Philanthropic Foundations in this Period | 第21-22页 |
| ·Post-WWII: the Rapidly-growing Period (1945-1991) | 第22-23页 |
| ·Wealth Accumulation | 第22页 |
| ·A General Account of Philanthropic Foundations in this Period | 第22-23页 |
| ·Post-Cold War: the flourishing period (1992 till now) | 第23页 |
| ·The Roles Played by American Modern Philanthropic Foundations | 第23-33页 |
| ·Domestic Roles | 第24-29页 |
| ·Alleviating Industrial Conflicts and Preserving Capitalism | 第24-25页 |
| ·Advancing Education, Science and Technology, and Health Care. | 第25-27页 |
| ·Reserving the Traditional American Cultures | 第27-28页 |
| ·Promoting Social Equality and Justice | 第28-29页 |
| ·International Roles | 第29-33页 |
| ·Promoting the Global Development, Spreading American Culture and Winning the U.S. a Favorable Image Worldwide | 第29-30页 |
| ·Helping the U.S. Government with Its Foreign Affairs | 第30-31页 |
| ·Supporting the U.S. Government to Pursue Its Global Hegemony and “Americanize”the World | 第31-33页 |
| Chapter III The Ideological Backgrounds of Philanthropic Foundations in the U.S | 第33-45页 |
| ·Influence of Religion | 第33-40页 |
| ·The United States of America: the God’s Country | 第34-36页 |
| ·The Christian Doctrine of “Doing-good” | 第36-37页 |
| ·The Protestant Ethics about Wealth | 第37-38页 |
| ·The Sense of Redemption | 第38-40页 |
| ·Influence of Capitalism | 第40-43页 |
| ·The Characteristics of Capitalist Spirits | 第40-41页 |
| ·The Influence of Capitalist Spirits upon Modern Philanthropic Foundations | 第41-43页 |
| ·Influence of Liberalism | 第43-45页 |
| ·The Characteristics of American Liberalism | 第43页 |
| ·The influence of American Liberalism upon Modern Philanthropic Foundations | 第43-45页 |
| Chapter IV The Institutional Guarantees of Philanthropic Foundations in the U.S | 第45-53页 |
| ·The Traditional Philosophy of “Limited Government | 第45-47页 |
| ·The Government Is Best Which Governs Least | 第45-46页 |
| ·A Comparison between the United States and European Countries | 第46-47页 |
| ·Legal Provisions | 第47-51页 |
| ·Laws on Philanthropic Foundations | 第47-48页 |
| ·Tax Reduction and Exemption | 第48-51页 |
| ·Tax Reduction and Exemption Enjoyed by Philanthropic Foundations | 第48-49页 |
| ·Tax Reduction and Exemption Enjoyed by Individuals and Corporations that Endow | 第49-51页 |
| ·Supervisions: the Driving Force of Development of Modern Philanthropic Foundations | 第51-53页 |
| ·Supervisions from the Government | 第51页 |
| ·Supervisions from the Public | 第51-52页 |
| ·Supervisions from the Foundations Themselves | 第52-53页 |
| Chapter V Conclusion | 第53-55页 |
| Bibliography | 第55-59页 |
