Popular
Find Philanthropic Flexibility with an LLC
Limited liability corporations (LLCs) empower individuals to take a multi-faceted approach to their philanthropy. A handful of prominent philanthropists—many of them from the tech industry—have popularized the LLC model to pursue a range of activities that help them achieve their social impact objectives. These activities can include: Grant making Advocacy and lobbying Impact investing Conventional commercial investing What makes the LLC...
VIEW MORE
The Case for Collective Impact and Cross-Sector Partnerships
Termed by the consultancy FSG, collective impact refers to a structured partnership model that brings together stakeholders in government, business, nonprofits, and philanthropy to tackle complex social issues. By uniting key players from across sectors, this structured partnership model empowers these groups to commit to a shared agenda and measurement system that will better position them to solve a social problem. When is collective impact the right appro...
VIEW MORE
The Power of Compelling Narratives in Strategic Philanthropy
For philanthropists and mission-driven organizations, communication is a powerful tool to generate impact. Distinct from storytelling, a narrative conveys a perspective and gives meaning to that world view. Articulating a philanthropic narrative is an essential step toward: identifying and effectively conveying the most crucial elements of your efforts engaging others with whom your narrative might resonate crystallizing your charitable values and pri...
VIEW MORE
Impact Investing: High(er) Risk, High Reward
For philanthropists interested in pursuing a social change agenda in ways that could also generate a financial return, impact investing is an attractive option. Most high-capacity impact investors consider this activity to be a supplement rather than a replacement to their charitable contributions. What is impact investing? Impact investing is the act of financing an organization or fund that aims to provide a social or environmental impact in addition to ...
VIEW MORE
New
Conducting Philanthropic Due Diligence
For a strategic philanthropist, conducting due diligence is an essential practice when assessing whether to invest in potential grantees or collaborators. Before making a financial or any other kind of commitment to an organization, it is wise to gather deeper insight into its financial health, operating capacity, and mission alignment. How should a philanthropist conduct due diligence? At its most basic level, due diligence is simply gathering information...
VIEW MORE
Understanding Place-Based Philanthropy
Place-based philanthropy describes an approach that targets a specific location—be it a neighborhood, municipality, or even multiple counties—upon which to focus charitable resources and make a transformative impact. It goes beyond supporting a community foundation or funding unrelated efforts in a contained space. By directing philanthropic assets to a particular geographic region and coordinating local partners, you can leverage your financial capital, social ne...
VIEW MORE
Funder Collaboratives: Amplify Impact and Learning
One way that you can maximize impact is by joining forces with fellow philanthropists who share your goals and vision. Philanthropic collaboratives empower like-minded donors to share learnings, strategize on social impact efforts, and potentially even pool their financial resources to address a charitable cause. What are funder collaboratives? Individuals or institutions typically form joint-learning or funding collaboratives to align their philanthropic ...
VIEW MORE
The Outsized Impact of Philanthropy on Biomedical Research
Several organizations and groups within the philanthropic sector have made invaluable contributions to advance biomedical research. Individual philanthropists, too, can jump-start new models of innovation that empower and accelerate progress in medical research and development (R&D). Indeed, philanthropy already has and continues to have a tremendous impact on medical research by closing critical funding gaps, improving research culture, and driving fundamental ...