The Essence Of Strategic Giving

In the face of global financial problems and stressed government budgets, the ability of private philanthropy to step in and help solve public problems—and support vital private institutions as well—has perhaps never been more important. But how can donors be sure their contributions will be effective? And how can fundraisers make their case for support in a way that is compelling and productive? With The Essence of Strategic Giving, Peter Frumkin distills the lessons of his comprehensive, award-winning study, Strategic Giving, into a concise, practical guide for everyone involved in private philanthropy, from donors to managers of nonprofits to fund-raisers. He defines five critical challenges that all donors must address if their philanthropy is to amount to more than indiscriminate charity, including being aware of the time frame that guides a gift, specifying the intended impact being pursued, and recognizing how a donation fits with a donor’s own identity and style. Acknowledging and understanding these fundamental, strategic aspects of giving, Frumkin argues, will help ensure philanthropy that more effectively achieves its aims—and at the same time builds a lasting relationship between donors and the institutions they support. As the next generation of donors wrestle with the challenge of effectively distributing what Andrew Carnegie called “surplus wealth,” Frumkin’s road map will be an indispensible resource for years to come.

The philanthropic landscape is changing dramatically as a new generation of wealthy donors seeks to leave its mark on the public sphere. Peter Frumkin reveals in Strategic Giving why these donors could benefit from having a comprehensive plan to guide their giving. And with this thoughtful and timely book, he provides the much-needed framework to understand and develop this kind of philanthropic strategy. After listening for years to scores of individual and institutional funders discuss the challenges of giving wisely, Frumkin argues here that contemporary philanthropy requires a thorough rethinking of its underlying logic. Philanthropy should be seen, he contends, as both a powerful way to meet public needs and a meaningful way to express private beliefs and commitments. He demonstrates that finding a way to simultaneously fulfill both of these functions is crucial to the survival of philanthropy and its potential to support pluralism in society. And he goes on to identify the five essential elements donors must consider when developing a philanthropic strategy—the vehicle through which giving will flow, the way impact will be achieved, the level of engagement and profile sought, the time frame for giving, and the underlying purpose of the gift. Frumkin’s point is that donors must understand strategic giving as the integration of these five critical dimensions to giving. Essential reading for donors, researchers, and anyone involved with the world of philanthropy, Strategic Giving provides a new basis for understanding philanthropic effectiveness and a promising new way for philanthropy to achieve the legitimacy that has at times eluded it.

This book discusses the role of grant-making foundations in supporting local communities, and how effective governance can contribute to greater success of the social projects they finance. The book considers the extent to which granting foundations act as social investment banks or strategic philanthropists, and identifies possible areas of evolution and improvement in the granting process of foundations similar to other innovative firms. It seeks to explore the possibility of foundations becoming a reference point in the Third Sector for innovativeness and risk taking.

The Business of Giving reviews current thinking and surveys the key techniques any philanthropist or grantmaker should adopt. It also outlines a generic social investment process that can be utilized for all philanthropic or grantmaking programmes. Essential reading for all engaged in or with an interest in philanthropy or civil society in general.

Companies increasingly play a meaningful role in civil society and the philanthropic sector through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Philanthropy (CP). The most well studied form of allocating these resources is through outright contributions to operating external foundations and other nonprofit organizations. However, far less is known about the use of corporate foundations, separate and independent nonprofit entities aimed at channeling corporate giving to a social mission related to a company. Corporate foundations are often linked to the founding company through their name, funding, trustees, administration and potential employee involvement. As these foundations are growing in number, size and importance and becoming increasingly visible in the philanthropic sector, the urgency to understand their role and functioning becomes more important. The primary aim of this volume is to deliver a holistic analysis of the current state-of-the-art on corporate foundations. For that reason, the book includes different perspectives on and use a hybrid concept of corporate foundations. The book includes three main parts. First, looking further into the organizational processes of corporate foundations, the book analyzes governance and operations as major aspects of organizational performance. Second, it sheds light on the role of corporate foundations in various institutional settings. Lastly, the book includes various stakeholder perspectives on corporate foundations, including corporate employees, beneficiaries, and their non-profit partners. By reading the book, readers will build a comprehensive understanding of the role and functioning of corporate foundations, understand new avenues for research and, in case they are practitioners in the field, find practical advice rooted in academic research. ​

Philanthropy – the use of private resources for public purposes – is undergoing a transformation, both in practice and as an emerging field of study. Expectations of what philanthropy can achieve have risen significantly in recent years, reflecting a substantial, but uneven, increase in global wealth and the rolling back of state services in anticipation that philanthropy will fill the void. In addition to this, experiments with entrepreneurial and venture philanthropy are producing novel intersections of the public, non-profit and private spheres, accompanied by new kinds of partnerships and hybrid organisational forms. The Routledge Companion to Philanthropy examines these changes and other challenges that philanthropists and philanthropic organisations face. With contributions from an international team of leading contemporary thinkers on philanthropy, this Companion provides an introduction to, and critical exploration of, philanthropy; discussing current theories, research and the diverse professional practices within the field from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. The Routledge Companion to Philanthropy is a rich and valuable resource for students, researchers, practitioners and policymakers working in or interested in philanthropy.

Mark Petersen has learned philanthropy in the process of leading a private grantmaking foundation. It has been a pilgrimage with mountaintops and valleys, high-impact grants and dead-end disasters. He parallels a personal account of a physical pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago alongside his philanthropic journey to create a sense of momentum and intentional movement toward a shared destination. Each of the thirty-five chapters leads with a short journal entry from the author's month-long pilgrimage along the Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo in Spain. Mark uses compelling stories to vulnerably shares fifteen years' worth of failures as well as successes in his journey of philanthropy. Along this journey he developed practical steps for reviewing grant applications and achieving goals for philanthropy. He advances the values of transparency, mutuality, and collaborating with others to achieve common goals. The vision of philanthropy espoused not only includes charitable impact but suggests the giver can be transformed in the process. The book offers a window into how people of faith struggle with giving, humanizes the mystique of a philanthropist, and provides grantmakers with tangible tools in their efforts to be both shrewd and faithful.

This book seeks to answer the unsolved questions related to hybrid organisations, adopting a multifaceted approach focussing on different national contexts, including the UK, Italy, Australia, and Sweden, as well as global organisations. Authors consider policy sectors including humanitarian aid, local transport, healthcare, and welfare services.