Philanthropy 2.0

I'm blogging live from the philathropy 2.0 event sponsored by the Case Foundation, EPIP, and 3rd Wave. Packed, hot, techie. About to break a sweat hot.

Just a quick observation. In today's session on faith and feminism, the director of the Women's Funding Network, Chris, pushed me to present my small group's discussion points. Although the rest of the group urged her to speak, she clearly indicated that she wanted me to present because I am an emerging voice in the feminist movement.

This is not the only time this has happened. Today, in the session I co-designed, Luz gave way to Charles and Trista to allow them airtime. This level of collegiality and respect for the voices of young people in philanthropy is new to me. Just by creating it as a focus area of the summit and by hearing leadership frame the conference on Sunday, people are already taking action.

We are not just here to learn, existing leadership is not just here to teach. It is an exchange.

From comments to front page news

There was a comment in the last posting on Has philanthropy grown comfortable with mediocrity that I wanted to bring forward as a post because I think the author Mary has some very valid points.

I wonder if community solutions (like your examples of after school programs, or
prison-to-community reentry programs) are seemingly less attainable because
foundations in a community don't talk to each other, come up with common goals,
and strategize about how to attain those goals. Furthermore, the folks who would
create these programs often don't have the training to do effective PR, media
outreach, and development, along with launching a project. If nonprofit managers
don't know how to do outreach, and can't talk to grant makers- is it reasonable
to assume that a program can be created ? I know that community foundations and
regional grant making organizations are supposed to foster these
meetings/conversations (both amongst each other and with nonprofits) - but I'm
not sure they really are. Perhaps, like the COF Summit is meant to bring
together different types of grant makers for conversation and collaboration,
regional grant makers need to encourage an agenda and a common set of goals
(along with the appropriate government forces)similar to the millennium goals
set by the UN? So I guess the question now becomes - how do we foster effective
communication in order to set a clear set of needs within a community- and get
grant makers to buy-in to that agenda? Should encouraging regional grant making
umbrella organizations to promote these conversations and a unified agenda be a
priority emphasized in the national philanthropy community? I can't help but
think this will be a forum that will have to be approached from the younger
folks involved in the philanthropic community- as it is a fundamental paradigm
shift from the way grant making is approached now.

What do you think? Could millennium goals for the foundation sector work? How can we all get on the same page for a greater impact?

Has philanthropy grown comfortable with mediocrity?

I was just reading an interesting article in Forbes about the philanthropy of billionaires and this quote from the article hit me over the head like a ton of grant proposals:

It's worth remembering that no philanthropist has solved a worldwide problem since Carnegie brought universal access for the poor to books via libraries (1883-1929), and Rockefeller used his billions to fund the research that would lead to the eradication of polio (1952).

Gates' ambition is on a similar scale. He wants to eradicate the 20 leading diseases in the world during his (or his wife's) lifetime.

I am excited about Gates' vision and I think he has the right pieces in place to accomplish that vision (lots of money, staff experts, and a results oriented funding model) but I am very concerned that his is one of the few foundations that has such a bold vision and a plan to accomplish it. Many foundations either lack the nerve to announce that they will solve a problem, these foundations use statements like "helping people in poverty" or "reducing disparities" or the foundations that have a vision like "ending homelessness" do not have the scale or partners needed to actually make that happen.

My question for you is why is it that the professionalization of philanthropy and the growth in wealth in the "developed" world has not led to a true global solution since polio?

Philanthropy News

I have been filling my in-box with interesting philanthropy articles that I want to cover on this blog. This glut of interesting philanthropy articles is moving me farther and farther away from my goal of having an empty in-box so I thought it was time to clean house. Here it goes:

The Columbus Dispatch has a great article about a new project of the Columbus Foundation that will bring individual donors and nonprofits together.

The New York Times criticized the influence of the Gates Foundation on malaria research. I think this article is interesting because most foundations are criticized for having too little impact on world issues.

Strategic Philanthropists in Australia are covered in Business Spectator.

OnPhilanthropy questions the ability of Gen X and Y to step up and take over the reins of the nonprofit sector.

Climate Change and Mission Related Investments are covered by SocialFunds.com

The Poor Give More to Charity can be found here.

When nonprofits and their funders break up with One Laptop per Child as the example is at the Financial Times.

Phew, I feel lighter already. Happy reading and let me know if you have had success cleaning our your email clutter.

Orphan elephants and nagging parents

I have two young children and sometimes I worry that by working as a "professional giver" I will desensitize them to the needs of the world. Hearing your parent go on and on about nonprofit effectiveness is probably not how budding social activists are created, so this article from Slate was very much welcomed.

Pennies for Elephants

How to raise budding philanthropists.

By Emily Bazelon
Updated Monday, Feb. 11, 2008, at 7:34 AM ET

On most Saturday mornings, I take my son Simon to Tot Shabbat at our synagogue. After the kids march around with stuffed red and blue Torah, they sing. One of my favorite songs is about tikkun olam, the Jewish concept of healing the earth. Upstanding morals, catchy tune—all good. Except that there is one verse that has bothered me. It goes like this: "So give your time/ and give your penny/ lend a hand/ to help someone."

Give your time and lend a hand. Check. But give your penny? Was the lesson that a penny, which Simon at age 4 already knows has practically no worth, is all that you need to part with in order to fulfill your charitable responsibilities? Was the whole thing just a little too pat?

As I mulled over this without broaching my doubt with Simon (who was staging a revolt against Tot Shabbat and didn't need any encouragement), my older son, Eli, came home from school and told us that his second-grade class was raising money to adopt an orphaned elephant. Her name was Dida. She had fallen down a well in Kenya. To which I confess my first reaction was: an orphaned elephant? What about an orphaned child? They have a lot of those in Kenya. Not to mention in Washington, D.C., a lot closer to home. Read the rest here.

I'd love to hear your tips for raising young philanthropists and I'd also like to know what you thought of the orphan elephant stuck in a well?

Visionary Leadership with Bill Strickland

" The only problem with poor people is that they are poor."
-Bill Strickland

I was excited, but not surprised when I saw one of my favorite people in the world as a featured speaker on TED Talks. Bill Strickland is the kind of visionary leader that I think all of us strive to be but the amazing thing about him is that his vision is so basic that it makes it seem downright crazy. Bill believes that by treating people with respect and kindness anyone can achieve great things. This means that by filling your community center with fresh flowers and gourmet food you will be able to teach an illiterate single mother how to be a pharmacy technician. It sounds crazy but he has done this and so much more for many, many years. I had the great privilege of visiting the Manchester Craftsman Guild (his nonprofit) during a Council on Foundations conference in Pittsburgh. I believe that visiting his center has changed the way that I approach program officer work and has made me encourage my grantees to reach so much higher than I ever would have in the past. Please take a half an hour to view his TED Talk, I promise it will be the most useful half an hour that you spend all week.

Social Venture Philanthropy

Great video on how venture philanthropy can help society deal with some of society's hardest issues. Also an interesting case study on how foundations can use YouTube to generate support for the work that they are doing in the community.

Philanthropic Roots

"Poverty isn't only a lack of financial resources, it is an isolation from the kind of people that can help you make more of yourself." -Keith Ferrazzi


I have been thinking a lot lately about what foundations are doing to address the root causes of injustice and poverty in our communities. At a Black men and boys conference that I attended Alvin Starks of the Open Society Institute had an important thought about this issue, he said the question shouldn't be what is wrong with Black men and boys, the question should be what is wrong with a society that would completely write off a whole section of its population?

What are we doing as a field to address root causes of problems? Are we just skimming the surface and avoiding the real questions because they are too hard?

Top 10 Reasons why Philanthropy blogging is important to the sector

Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy asked me to write a guest blog on why philanthropy blogging is important. You can find five of the reasons here and the rest at EPIP's fantastic blog EPIPhanies.

1) Traditional media doesn’t really give a hoot about what happens in the foundation world. Buffet gifts aside, it is hard to find consistent coverage of the sector, blogs fill that void.
2) Blogs identify trends. New ideas that are bubbling up in the sector (or old ideas that are being reconsidered) first show up in blogs. Topics like rethinking the term “nonprofit”, should nonprofits play a role in election campaigns, and the public relations problem of Gen X are all being discussed on philanthropy blogs right now.
3) Foundations are notoriously secretive and blogs are very open. Blogging about the field lifts that curtain so everyone can see Oz and as scary as that is, it makes us better at our jobs.
4) Nonprofits are looking for clues about how foundations operate. Blogs give insight into the people behind the letterhead.
5) Blogs invite participation. Participation creates new and better ideas than closed door brainstorming sessions.

Read the rest of the reasons at EPIP's blog EPIPhanies

New feature on this blog- Questions

I was at a great meeting yesterday about rethinking journalism and how to include the wisdom of the community when covering stories. The organization that I was meeting with said that they had been able to predict interesting trends and get more creative solutions to problems by asking lots of people to share their expertise about a topic. The interesting piece was that they asked people to share their expertise, not their opinions. As new foundation staff we often forget that we have areas of expertise that could be useful to others inside and outside the field. I am going start asking a series of questions about next generation philanthropy issues. I want to see if we can identify trends and new solutions to strengthen the sector.

Words of Wisdom from Susan Berresford, Ford Foundation President

Susan Berresford, the retiring president of the Ford Foundation, was a featured speaker at one of the Council of Foundation’s Emerging Leader Salons. These salons were an opportunity to meet with fellow emerging philanthropic leaders and connect with seasoned leaders in the field. At the session, I asked her to describe the characteristics of an exceptional program officer. She said that a strong Program Officer has a series of traits that could be considered conflicting but each trait is necessary to create balance.

Exceptional Program Officers:

Have the ability to see conceptually and yet are detailed oriented.

Are good listeners but after they listen to ideas, they are able to drive good ideas forward.

Are polite and generous with their time with grantees and potential grantees but are able to get to the point and get things done.

What do you think about this list? Are there things that are missing? What are the characteristics that move someone from an average program officer to one that is truly an asset to their foundation and their community?

New Philanthropy vs. Old Philanthropy, a false Dichotomy?

I listened to a variety of very interesting speakers at the Council of Foundations annual conference that have made me rethink my position on old philanthropy versus new philanthropy. In a previous post, “Are Foundations Becoming Obsolete”, I said that successful foundations are using new methods to be more effective. After listening to Melinda Gates describe how the Gates Foundation was developed after doing a systematic study of other successful foundations, I stand corrected. They made a conscious effort to harness the knowledge that had already been developed in the foundation field, instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. One of the detriments of being someone that is new to the foundation field is that you don’t have the benefit of history when you are thinking about effective models for moving the field forward. Sterling K. Speirn the CEO of the Kellogg Foundation said “don’t fall into the new philanthropy versus old philanthropy argument, instead take time to read philanthropic history to learn from past innovations.” Through the application of knowledge and the development of fresh ideas, we can change the world.

Are foundations becoming obsolete?

Slate magazine had an interesting article about Joel L. Fleishman’s new book The Foundation: A Great American Secret. Fleishman contends that “the arrogance of the foundation world has led it to miss good ideas developed by others. Its insulation has allowed it to proceed without being challenged by external forces, and without understanding much about the success or failure of its programs. Its invisibility has left it isolated, risk averse, and without much public support.”

I doubt that our current reality of what a foundation is will disappear in our lifetimes but we can see that Philanthropy 2.0 is already happening today. The next iteration of philanthropy will be more results based and will include more private/public partnerships to move social agendas forward. The product (red) campaign is an example of this (albeit an unsuccessful example). I think we are coming to a point in the foundation sector that we realize that foundation funding is only a drop in the bucket. We just need to be more strategic about where we put that drop.

Advice to Those New to the Foundation Field

I have just completed my first year as a program officer at a community foundation. Being a new Foundation staff member is really uncharted territory. There isn’t a handbook that tells you how to be an effective program officer and everyone seems to approach his or her position from a different perspective. I’ve made it my personal mission to try to demystify the foundation field for new foundation staff, prospective foundation staff, grant seekers, and most importantly for myself. In that vein, I have developed 6 pieces of advice for those new to the field that I hope makes your entrance into the foundation field a little less hazy.

1. Don’t believe the hype- Positions at foundations are few and far between. There was probably a very talented applicant pool for your position and you must be very intelligent and knowledgeable about the nonprofit sector since you were chosen for your position. With that said I can pretty much guarantee that you are not as smart, funny, or as handsome (or pretty) as nonprofit and foundation staff alike may have you believe. Your program ideas are not suddenly brilliant, you are just sharing these ideas with a captive audience. False flattery is an unfortunate by-product of being in a position where you can make decisions about large amounts of money. You can handle this newfound access to wealth with grace and wisdom or you can act like a lottery winner. Please choose wisely.
2. Treat grantees with the respect and reverence that they deserve- You get to spend your days with grantees and possible grantees that are the best and brightest of the nonprofit sector. They would make a lot more money if they used their immense talents working in the for profit sector but they are so passionate about the mission of their organizations that they choose to work for. Count yourself among the lucky few that get to spend most of your workday with passionate, idealistic people.
3. Expand your professional network- The best ideas come from having a diverse professional network of people that have different opinions and experiences than you do. Join an affinity group of a different racial group, program area, or geographic interest to learn new approaches to issues that you face in your position.
4. Get some support- This may be a circle of friends that you can bounce ideas off of, an affinity group like Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, which is designed to provide support and guidance to people new to the field of philanthropy, or a kickball team, where you can burn off some of the stress of your position. Figure out what kind of support would work the best for you and seek it out. If you can’t find that network of support, create your own.
5. Never stop learning- The nonprofits that you interact with depend on your access to best practices in the field to improve their own work. Thoroughly read the reports from previous grantees. Are there lessons learned that might be applicable to other organizations that you are working with? Then share that information, within the limits of confidentiality. Scrupulously read about areas that your foundation makes grants in. Read about cities or states with similar demographics as your foundation’s geographic area. Are there any best practices from other locations that might be useful for the work that your foundation or grantees are doing?
6. Extend your hand to those that are interested in the field- When you were thinking about entering the field of philanthropy you either had a wonderful mentor that guided you through the process or you wish that you had. Be that mentor to someone else. There are many students and professionals that just need a few minutes of your time to figure out if the foundation field is a good fit for them. Be open to informational interviews, speaking at sessions about the work of program officers, or being a mentor informally or through a program at your alma mater. You may have also noticed that since you have entered the field you now know about position opening that you never would have heard about when you weren’t in the field. Share those opportunities with your network of people that are interested in starting a career in philanthropy.

Now it’s your turn. What advice would you give to new foundation staff?

First Time Visitor Guide

It can be a little bit overwhelming to visit a blog for the first time. On some blogs it may feel like you are entering mid-conversation. This guide is my attempt to help you get a sense of the topics that I include in my blog so that you can be an active participant in this small corner of the web.


Blog Description

This blog covers issues of generational change in the philanthropic sector and more broadly trends in philanthropy. This is a wide range of topics from how professional training programs in philanthropy are creating a younger applicant pool for foundation positions to how Google is revolutionizing the concept of philanthropy. We are in a unique period of time where baby boomers are retiring and Gen Xers have made it clear that they are not content with keeping the status quo in the nonprofit or foundation sectors. I believe we are in an important period of rapid evolution in the philanthropic field, which is very significant for a field has been traditionally stagnant (or based on years of history and tradition, depending on your perspective). I will use this blog to document that evolution.


Interaction

Working at a Foundation can be very consuming work that narrows your focus to only the grant proposals that come across your desk. I write this blog because it expands my focus to trends that are larger than the community that I work in but that will have significant impact on that same community. It also helps me think through and learn about the topics that I write about. Interacting with readers and other bloggers about these topics really helps to expand and clarify my own thinking. I want your thoughts about these issues as well. The real benefit of reading about topics on the web is the blurred line between audience and author and the real exchange of knowledge that happens when many people provide their perspectives. Comments are very much welcome.

Now that I’ve introduced myself, why don’t you briefly introduce yourself in the comments area below. Who are you, do you work in the philanthropic sector, and why are you interested in trends in philanthropy?