Better philanthropy

There are not a lot of people who spend their time wondering what a better philanthropic system/market/ecosystem could look like. I am one of those few. Colleagues of mine from Blueprint recently reminded me that I have already outlined a vision of better (in my 2004 book, Creating Philanthropic Capital Markets: The Deliberate Evolution). The elements I identified then were:
· Aggregated philanthropic dollars
· Diversity of people, resources, ideas and vehicles
· Different power dynamics between grantor/grantee
· Long-term, committed grantmaking for change
· Integrated resources across sectors
· Timed well relative to stage of problem and other funding.

I still agree with those, and realized that since 2004 I'd developed some other lists as well. ... These seven building blocks of open philanthropy are:

• 1. Facilitate adaptation, don’t hinder it
• 2. Design for interoperability, local specificity will follow
• 3. Build for the poorest
• 4. Assume upward adaptability
• 5. Creativity and control will happen locally
• 6. Diversity is essential
• 7. Complex problems require hybrid solutions

And some 2007 thoughts on aligned investing included these items:

• Data, research, analysis, strategy, and measurement tools help people put their resources where their personal interests and passions are.
• the ... philanthropic industry ...is personal, fragmented, and anonymous. It is also strategic, brand-oriented, and – in the aggregate – enormous. Its most generous participants – as measured by percent of net worth given – tend to be the poor, not the rich.
• While the range of issues they can support is almost limitless; the number of tools that philanthropists have at their disposal is rather small. They have really 7 things to bring to the table: money, knowledge, time, expertise, connections, patience, and independence.
• I do equate strategy, knowledge, and alignment with effectiveness.

I need a cohesive statement of where the philanthropic industry is now, where it is going, and where are its points of influence. I'll start with these lists above - please feel free to add, subtract, argue with or point me to other sources.

Tags: philanthropy, philanthropiccapitalmarkets