Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a big deal for non-profit funders and organizations. How do you determine the most effective approach to solving homelessness, bettering education, or curbing poverty? Is it possible to weave a standard method of evaluation through a variety of themes, lens, and perspectives? Should we even try for one approach, […]
If you missed Obama’s comments last night regarding charitable deductions, I’ve included them here. For the past few weeks, the non-profit sector has been a flutter with commentary on the lowering of charitable deductions for wealthy donors. In summary, instead of deducting 39%, wealthy American will be able to deduct 28% of their charitable giving. […]
Whether you eat, sleep, and breathe philanthropy or whether you can barely pronounce the word, the entire sector revolves around personal choice. No matter how fancy or interactive our industry is able to make the word, the feeling, the community – the decision on when, where, or whether to participate will always be based on […]
Between the blogs I follow and my twitter-feed, I’m feeling issue-fatigue on the financial crisis and how the sector is coping. My weekly Economist continues to report the most pressing financial difficulties from manufacturing to mortgages – in every corner of the globe. Even for a sector-junkie, its challenging to keep up on the most current thoughts regarding Obama’s stimulus package […]
All for multi-tasking and passing the boredom of standing in the grocery line, this new application from The Extraordinaries has gotten me excited about the new possibilities of volunteering. Smartphone software that allows someone to use micro amounts of spare time for social good. We deliver volunteer tasks on-demand directly to the phone like a […]
Kudos to the Administration for passing a Stimulus bill that, both in voice and in funds, supports volunteerism and community activism. While I’m still not sold or sure of the government’s increasing presence in the sector (i.e. Office of Social Innovation), its not being overdone…yet. The combination between improvements in public diplomacy and philanthropy by the government […]
With both Canada and the U.S. passing new federal stimulus packages, it has been interesting to hear from the respective non-profit sectors on how pleased they are with the outcomes. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that a congressional compromise will include funding for arts, social service, and volunteerism – including $50 million for capacity building […]
It was only a matter of time before the next Philanthro-jargon was born. Thank you Davos. Ian Wilhelm raises some interesting questions on how significantly Davos influences philanthropic discussions. After all, some of the greatest minds and largest donors are there to convene on the pressing issues of the day. There are some contrasting opinions […]
Following my previous and optimistic post of a new era for community service, I’m now going to flip the argument. While I straddle both U.S. and Canadian philanthropy in this financial downturn and watch as both governments “turn on the taps” and run deficit budgets for this year – I’ve become curious at how long the […]
Move aside depressing economic outlook articles, this is going to be an exciting week. If only I could be in D.C. for a front row view! If you aren't lucky enough to have MLK Jr. Day as a national holiday and a day to volunteer your time, there is room for participation from all corners of […]
Late last year, I helped a Western-based non-profit organization prepare a grant for an international development project in Ethiopia. At that time, there was mention that the Ethiopian government would soon be passing a law that restricts international agencies from working on certain interventions within the country – including human rights, equality, conflict resolution and the rights […]
I’ve enjoyed the philanthropy chatter of the past two weeks, the year-end reviews and the predictions for 2009. While nodding along with the jargon we’d like to see banished, contemplating pitfalls of new philanthropists, and musing on how Madoff worked out his whole scheme – I found myself focusing intently on two topics, scale and support. […]
A few interesting bits from this past week: The Global Perspectives on Major Donor Fundraising conference took place in London in November. The December issue of Alliance includes a thoughtful summary of some of its biggest topics – including whether we should take a more donor-centered view towards fundraising and if the idea of major gifts works […]
For my view on the year and what is to come, have a look at the 2008 Philanthropy in Review page. See if you agree.
Having read Michael Edward's “Just Another Emperor? The Myths and Realities of Philanthrocapitalism” earlier this year, I thought I would balance the perspective with a read of Matthew Bishop/Michael Green's “Philanthrocapitalism: How the Rich Can Save the World”. If you’re looking for a book club discussion, this is definitely a good pair. Two chapters into […]