Philanthropy plays a visible but little-studied role in education reform, making it easy to both overestimate and underestimate its significance. The emergence of "new" givers in the last few years, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation, has shifted the landscape of school reform. This article, based on an in-depth edited volume, explores the role philanthropy plays in shaping education policy, the current landscape of giving and how it evolved, and five key challenges facing educators, policymakers, and philanthropists.