Will they pay?

When it comes to financial matters, few could argue that expert advice applied prudently could be a bad thing. This is as true of philanthropic investments as it is of stocks, yet until recently the kind of personalized advice that the affluent have expected from their financial advisers has not been available for the philanthropic sector. Now it seems that demand among donors is growing and philanthropic advisory firms are mushrooming; indeed this looks like a growth industry. Yet the question remains: are donors willing to pay for the advice they say they want? Click here to read ...

Online Giving Marketplaces conference

Event Online Giving Marketplaces: Changing the Face of Philanthropy
Date 8 October 2008
Venue Stanford University, Stanford, USA
Organizer Stanford Social Innovation Review

In the heart of Silicon Valley – and in the midst of a global economic crisis – the Stanford Social Innovation Review drew an audience of nearly 250 philanthropists, non-profit managers and social entrepreneurs to participate in a day-long conference on the evolving world of online philanthropy. The conference brought together executives from 14 online giving sites, making it the largest-yet public gathering of leaders in internet-enabled philanthropy. Click here to read ...

Philanthrocapitalism: How the rich can save the world - Matthew Bishop and Michael Green

This is a book worth reading for anyone interested in today’s philanthropy. The philanthropic landscape presented (though with a strong Anglo-Saxon bias) challenges the reader with the bold view that the ‘philanthrocapitalism revolution’ will succeed in eradicating the world’s toughest problems where governments, NGOs and businesses have failed.

The right match

In the September 2008 issue of Alliance, Matthew Bishop and Michael Edwards offer contrasting views on the subject of ‘philanthrocapitalism’. In my estimation, philanthrocapitalism as described by Bishop and Edwards is neither inherently good nor inherently evil. What is critical when considering global giving strategies is to ensure the right match between donor and project.

Some undertakings lend themselves well to a businesslike approach, including scaling up and quantifiably measured results. The growth of microfinance is a positive example. For these types of laudable programmes, there is certainly nothing wrong with using business models that can enhance their effectiveness.

New fund to support Texas Hispanic community

A group of young Hispanic professionals has launched a giving circle which aims to support the Hispanic community and cultivate the next generation of Latino leaders. About 20 founding members launched the FuturoFund Austin at the end of October. The idea comes from a group of friends who saw a need for Hispanic-focused philanthropy and leadership, particularly in light of the booming Hispanic population in Austin, says co-founder Priscilla Guajardo Cortez, associate director of development for the University of Texas at Austin.

For more information
http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2008/10/20/story9.html

Interview - Matthew Bishop and Michael Green

Are the super-rich the new super-heroes of the world stage, as Matthew Bishop and Michael Green claim in Philanthrocapitalism: How the rich can save the world? Click here to read ...

A new architecture needed

Who sets the agenda – funder or grantee? That’s the question posed by this edition of Alliance. To put the matter in the business vocabulary more familiar to philanthrocapitalists: how should (financial) resources be allocated to citizen sector organizations?

Proactive vs responsive philanthropy

Each foundation is faced with the question of how its agenda will be set – and reset. This article looks at both responsive and proactive styles, and their extreme versions of ‘reactive’ and ‘directive’ grantmaking. The article also argues that in the end the relevant question is not so much whether funder or funded partner is setting the agenda but rather whether they can set up a strong, generative partnership in the context of agendas that are much larger than either funder or partner.

Responsive grantmaking

Philanthropy – whose canvas?

Matthew Bishop defines ‘philanthrocapitalism’ as ‘some of the world’s most talented and successful people … turning their minds to problems like education, disease, climate change and terrorism’. In some ways that’s the problem. As David Hulme points out in his survey of international development assistance, the ‘world’s most talented and successful people’ have been ‘developing’ the rest of the world for a hundred years or more, through colonization, foreign aid, military intervention and now philanthropy, despite the fact that sustained change is always internally driven.

Mysterious Legatum making waves

Legatum Group, the personal investment management vehicle for (until now) reclusive New Zealand billionaire Christopher Chandler, has quietly invested in, and made billions from, emerging markets for more than a decade. But it is now beginning to make waves in development circles. In the last 12 months it has undertaken several high-profile initiatives worth tens of millions of dollars all driven by the goal, it says, of promoting ‘global prosperity’.