E-Philanthropy

Score one for Warren Buffett and zero for hedge funds. And millions for Girls Inc. of Omaha. In 2007, the famed billionaire investor made a $1 million bet that an S&P 500 stock index fund would outperform a basket of hedge funds over the course of a decade. The index fund returned 7.1 percent compounded…

This has been a heavy year of natural disasters: Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria; wildfires in California; the Mexico City earthquake; and a monsoon in Bangladesh. In the aftermath of any natural disaster, money rushes in to help those in need. The media attention prompts people to write checks, but also to donate clothes, food…

Melinda Gates is seen as one of the most influential women in the world, both inside and out of the philanthropic space. Yet, when she launched the Gates Foundation back in 2000 with husband and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Melinda intended on having a more "behind the scenes" role. "I had purposely tried to be…

As nonprofit leaders and fundraising professionals, surviving through a natural disaster is something we do not always consider as part of our philanthropic strategy.  However, it can become a critical consideration if you lead a nonprofit organization that exists outside the affected areas, or if your organization’s mission is not obviously tied to disaster relief...

Paul and Rebecca (not their real names) started giving to this social service organization in the early 90s. They were a conservative couple from an average neighborhood, but they wanted to do good in their community, so their first gift was $50 to a direct mail acquisition campaign...

Paul and Rebecca (not their real names) started giving to this social service organization in the early 90s. They were a conservative couple from an average neighborhood, but they wanted to do good in their community, so their first gift was $50 to a direct mail acquisition campaign. I can imagine that back then no […]

Mei Hing Chak—also known as Zhai Meiqing—was feted with a Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in New York this week for exceptional giving and creating a world of positive change. Chak and her husband Liu Zhiqiang ranked No. 205 on the Forbes China Rich List in 2016 with a combined fortune worth $1.4 billion. “The value…

If you want to be sustainable over the long haul, you must incorporate this dual-pronged goal into your values and planning. The values part is critical, because if you don’t have goodwill internally (in how you treat your colleagues) you’re unlikely to have goodwill externally (in how others perceive you)...

Your organization is a goodwill factory. Or it’s not. Your organization has a culture of philanthropy. Or it doesn’t. Without goodwill and a culture of philanthropy, you’re not going to achieve anywhere near as much as you could. Or should. Before we go further, some definitions are in order. First, let’s look at the definition […]

Two months after he asked the Twitterverse to suggest short-term options for future philanthropy, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos passed along his appreciation for the tens of thousands of responses that were sent in. “I’m really glad I asked—the responses have been very helpful and have already [changed] my thinking about how to approach this,” said…