philanthropy

On the Future of Philanthropy...

•  The Stanford Social Innovation Review has an article talking about the changing face of philanthropy. The new generation of philanthropist are young, skilled and tech-savvy individuals. They desire to share their fortune in the same focused manner they have acquired it, by using their knowledge and skills to work on their passions. As larger foundations have been scaling back their contributions, these smaller mid-sized foundations have been increasing both their donation size and number of donations. With online giving associations such as Kiva popping up, perhaps the next wave will include donor-matching organizations that will match foundations with nonprofits as easily as Flixster makes movie recommendations.
• Information is becoming more and more key in the modern era. Foundations are finding they can further their goals of philanthropy through information distribution, but with the sunset of traditional media sources such as newspapers, that task is somewhat complicated. The CT Mirror and the New Haven Independent are part of a new trend and a new experiment. Both are funded by organizations instead of being profit based and both have hired social media strategists to increase their engagement online.  

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On Community Transformation and Engagement... read more »

• We know that cities and communities are constantly changing and we often attributethe change to economic factors (think Detroit) or specific circumstantial or environmental factors (think New Orleans), but a blog post from nuPolis argues that there are intentional cultural factors that lead a community to change as well.   According to the article there are three dynamics – shared vision and goals, social engagement, and systemic improvement – that, if unleashed, have the potential to fundamentally change a community.  It is by unleashing these cultural components that communities can address issues such as economic capacity, poverty levels, and increased interaction with a larger region.

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On Disaster Relief… read more »

• The tragic earthquake in Haiti has sparked debate about the best way to provide relief.  Philantopic publishes a blog post suggesting that the U.S. should create some sort of a joint appeal that would “manage a coordinated fundraising campaign for a specific emergency.”  Donations would be collected by a central committee and then would be distributed to organizations which could make the best use of them at the time.
• Rosetta Thurman offers ways that the philanthropic community can help in Haiti.  She includes things that we should do (mobile giving) and that we should not do (collect canned goods).

 On Reflections and Values... read more »

• The end of the year should be used as a time to reflect on both our lives and our work.  We should especially look at the meaning of our work and the values that support it.  A post by Fast Company suggests the concept of UBUNTU, used in South Africa, which translates to mean “a person is only a person through other persons.”  Our core values, then, are reflected through our relationships with other people, revealing our "human-ness."  The blog challenges people to examine and reflect on their work and values through this lens.
• Interaction Institure for Social Change publishes a post about a new project Seth Godin has put together.  His project involved asking people “What Matters Now?” and putting the responses together in an e-book.  Each person took a single word and wrote a short piece about how that word related to their past and future work.  Examples of the inspiring words are "meaning," "enrichment" and "sleep."

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On Social Impact and Investment... read more »

• A new initiative, Social Impact Exchange, from Growth Philanthropy Network and Duke University has been launched.  Social Impact Exchange is a “focal point for studying, funding and implementing large expansions of proven social purpose organizations.”  It offers an “investment clearinghouse” of the most effective nonprofit organizations.  Sean Stannard-Stockton, of Tactical Philanthropy, comments on the Clearinghouse and how it is similar to the stock exchange; the most relevant aspect of the stock market which also applies to philanthropy, he says, is that the stock market has certain ongoing requirements that organizations must adhere to.

On the Future of Philanthropy... read more »

• The New York Times terms the everyday donor as “philanthropy’s newest hero” and states that it is the smaller donors (who are being organized around the principle of modest giving) which charities are beginning to target.  The article cites smaller scale efforts, like the Facebook group Fight Global Poverty and the online fund-raising organization, GlobalGiving, which have had big impact.

On the Internet, Civic Engagement and the Future of Philanthropy… read more »

• Many people hoped that the Internet would change the dynamic of civic engagement in the sense that the Internet would act as a kind of socioeconomic equalizer.  Unfortunately, a study by Pew Internet & American Life Project found that those who are actively involved in online civic engagement mirror those who are involved in offline civic engagement (namely, the well-to-do and well-educated).  There are some hints, though, that social media – especially blogging – could alter this pattern.

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On Networking, Community and Storytelling… read more »

• "Network weavers", or “people who intentionally and informally weave new and richer connections between and among people, groups and entities in networks” play a large role in organizing and bringing together communities.  They are leaders who unite people who have similar interests and goals and are strong networkers.  Their impact can be measured by “social network mapping” which is a visual representation of a network.  The representation itself also helps to build community.

On Leadership and Change… read more »

• James McGregor Burns made a distinction between two models of leadership: transformational leadership and transactional leadership.  The former model revolves around visionary ideas and transformative change while the latter involves management techniques.  Lindsey McDougle, in her blog, states that research should be done to see how these two models apply themselves within the nonprofit world.
• The Change Handbook by Peggy Holman makes the argument that we need to stop using the term “change management” because change is not manageable.  We can work with change, she believes, but managing it is impossible because it is rooted in upheaval and disturbance.  This does not make change bad, but it does mean that in order to work with it we need to shift our mindset.  The key to a shift in our mindset about change is a shift in our mindset about leadership.  We need to move from “leading from a position of certainty” to “leading by inquiry, asking… questions of possibility,” in order to adapt rather than to manage.

On Leadership and Networks… read more »

• A network is better understood as a community rather than as an organization; it is seen as “an environment of connectivity.”  IISC publishes a comprehensive definition and common characteristics of a network.
• An essay by Bill Traynor discusses the value of networking .  He emphasizes that building networks are the most efficient and effective means of getting things done in the nonprofit and business worlds.  He also focuses on the role that leaders play within networks.