Blog

Not long ago in The Wall Street Journal, noted philanthropy expert Pablo Eisenberg recommended changes in major philanthropy (particularly foundations) during these difficult economic times.  In summary, he said foundations are bureaucratic, inflexible and cautious, and too focused on short-term objectives.  Among Dr. Eisenberg's 9 remedies, a few struck me as particularly interesting.  READ MORE

There are many reasons that America's Christians should dig deep and give big. Let's begin, of course, with Jesus. He constantly pointed us toward service, compassion, servanthood, humility, and love...not to mention sacrificial generosity.  READ MORE

Many individual philanthropists want to use their money to tackle huge global problems. A recent report by the University of Pennsylvania, Lifting the Burden of Malaria: An Investment Guide for Impact-Driven Philanthropy, used malaria to illustrate three "entry points" available to globally minded donors: treating and preventing now, building systems for the long term, and innovating for the future. READ MORE

Nonprofits operate very differently than companies—a point of frustration for many donors. Nonprofits are actually two businesses- one that delivers the product or service, and one that generates revenue.  READ MORE

I love how philanthropy is such an intimate expression of personal values.  Donors give to causes that uniquely move their hearts and minds--what lawyers call "donor intent." As I have worked with donors over the years, I have been inspired by the wide range of people's charitable affections and how that variety meets so many important societal needs. Some gifts or bequests make me scratch my head...but I am mostly glad just to see people acting on their generous leanings. Read more...

It is always disturbing to see major donors doing “paratroop philanthropy”—dropping in with simple solutions for complex, deep-seated problems. One of the most important lessons I have learned in the philanthropy world is to look beneath the surface before trying to solve problems. This is especially true when we are outsiders, for example suburbanites wanting to help with urban issues, Americans seeking to address health crises in Africa, or American Christians trying to help support churches in North Africa or the Middle East. Read more...

A few weeks ago I was in Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma. I had a rare opportunity, for a westerner, to visit the delta area slammed by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. Relief workers told us that as many as 300,000 lives were lost in Nargis, more than the total death toll of the 2004 tsunami, but the secretive Burmese government won’t confirm death counts. I was in Myanmar to visit projects supported by a client—the kind of trip foundation professionals call “Organizational Audit and Follow-up” (see the “Services” page of my website for a translation!) Put more simply, we were there to see if the projects looked as good in-person as they did in the charity’s newsletters. Read more…

A friend of mine is a philosopher and seminary professor—a deep guy. When he’s at his best, he distills profound ideas into simple takeaways, and I’ve never forgotten what he told me several years ago. He recounted how he had interviewed older people about their secrets to living great lives. Their responses fell into four groups: they said they had never stopped learning, initiating, serving, and—most interesting to me—starting again. Read more…