A Rainy but Warm August at SVP

One of the purposes of this blog is to record the activities and share with you the things we do and experience at SVP in a timely fashion. So this entry is just that with a few inspirations here and there that make my days here full of enjoyment and energy.

For the whole August, we are fortunate to be sponsored with a summer intern to help us with our 10 year Case Study Project. With a background in Communications, Scott spends his precious summer time with SVP before he goes and pursues a dream of creative design in Vancouver Film School in September.

Continuing from Diana’s volunteer work last summer, Scott gathers all the compiled raw data on each of SVP’s Investees and turns them into heartfelt short stories. Along with researching hard copy materials in binders, Scott and I have been conducting several interviews with Executive Directors of our current and graduated Investees and current and past Partners. The goal of these interviews was not only to capture personal stories and experience related to SVP’s impact and philanthropy at large, but also gave us a chance to re-connect with individuals that are part of the success that defines the SVP we know today. It was an eye opening experience and tons of fun! We learned so much about the history of the work and impact on the community and witnessed the outcome of long-term capacity and relationship building and dedication throughout the years.

One interesting thing I realized from chatting with so many people is that there isn’t really a formula to embracing philanthropy in one’s life. There were so many different kinds of involvement, emotions, motivations and styles of philanthropy – it’s a personal thing! And I think that’s the beauty of philanthropy because you can define it however you’d like and embrace it in your own lifestyle.

Just before Scott departs to Vancouver he came to me and thanked me for the opportunity for him to be involved with SVP and that he enjoyed the experience and learned so much about the industry. Then he said,

“I want to give back to SVP…and do something good for the community. I never really understood the real meaning of philanthropy but I see nonprofits and giving in a different way now and I really appreciate SVP for the amazing opportunity.”

I was speechless. There I was, with a short speech in mind, wanting to thank him for all his time and effort helping us with the Case Studies and bam – he totally stumbled me with his generosity and humbling thoughts. It took me about 30 seconds to come up with a proper sentence other than “wow, my goodness, thank you!”

His gratitude and action was huge and heavy in terms of the meaning and sincerity behind it. It is this kind of experience that makes me appreciate my daily work even more. How lucky I am to be able to offer my time and expertise to help the world become a better place and help others to understand what it means to give back to the community.

It is with great honour and pleasure that I’ve been entrusted with managing this project. I can’t wait to share with you what we have learned and captured with our 10 Year Case Study Project, so stay tuned

The Giving Pledge…and you.

I’ve been hemming and hawing about writing a post regarding the Giving Pledge that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett kicked off this past month.  Mainstream media and philanthropy bloggers have been covering the pledge and its various aspects for the past few weeks.  If for some reason you’ve missed the news, here’s a few of my favorite pieces  here, here, and here – to bring you up to date.

In my opinion, the Giving Pledge really brings philanthropy back to the place that we were at pre-recession.  Thinking back to the hey day of 2006, when Buffet pledged his wealth to the Gates Foundation, & we began living in the 2nd golden age of philanthropy.  (Arguably, this began earlier, but Buffett really took it to another level.)

With the Giving Pledge, we are back.  Donors with wealth, too sizable to really imagine, are committing to giving half of it away.  This is meaningful.  In speaking with a friend in advertising, this makes the actual act of philanthropy something that folks have to have, have to be a part of.  Branding philanthropy, the act itself, is in stark contrast to buying a t-shirt that you have to have – even if the proceeds go to a philanthropic purpose.

The challenge to the Pledge and its impact is that it is still one-sided and small-scale.   It addresses the donor-side and a only small percentage of donors.

My first comments to the bloggers posting on this topic were “Great!  And what are we going to do with this sudden influx of money?”  (“We” being the sector.)  I wasn’t overly keen by the simple or non-responses, “The Pledge doesn’t deal with how the money gets dispersed.”    Right, I understand that, but that’s not good enough.  That is only half of the answer.

It’s only been in the past few weeks that folks have started answering the questions on my mind:

Hey, philanthropy are we going to make sure we’re ready for an influx of cash?  Are the non-profits going to be ready?  Is the money going to be given effectively?  Or in ten years, are we going to say – where’d it all go?  What actually changed?  What did we solve?

In my mind, these questions are the ones that complete the circle.  We’ve asked the donors for their accountability, or at least for a Pledge.  Now, what Pledge are we asking from the sector?

Boldly, I think we’re asking for systems changes – or moving more rapidly in areas that are currently in development (i.e. evaluation, collaboration, impact, social enterprise).   If we are going to have big money, something we keep saying we want, what exactly are we going to do with it?

And that brings me to my final thoughts…us.   Does this even have applicability for folks like us?  Absolutely.   I don’t have a billion dollars, not even close – so you can imagine the look my finance husband gave me when I said, “what if we gave a half of it away?” And more realistically, “What if we were giving 1% away per year?” (Written about here.)

Is that a latte a week?  A Coach handbag?  A two week vacation?  A plasma TV?  A new RV?

As a Partner in SVP Calgary, you are already taking a step.   I challenge you to take it further.  What would an individual Pledge mean for how you live your life?   What would it mean for how you engage in your community?

Ask this question at your next dinner table, what would it take to give half of your wealth away?  More interestingly, where can you be involved to see that your wealth is distributed in a meaningful way?    Or are you just going to throw it up in the air and hope it lands somewhere good?

Philanthropy Courses in MBA!

I just read an online article published by Financial Times that made me very happy! According to the article titled “Business Education“, over 100 colleges and business schools in the US are offering courses on philanthropy as part of their MBA curriculum!

I’m happy because people are starting to recognize the importance of passing down these values and implication of philanthropy on a wider and sophisticated level. I’ve observed the perception of philanthropy usually on the two ends of the spectrum – either too simplistic seeing it as just rich folks giving away money, or completely avoiding it and deferring to a donor advised fund without really understanding why they are contributing. Elenore Garton, a senior researcher at the Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy at Brandeis Univeristy, describes the first kind of situation well:

“People tend to think, ‘Philanthropy: that’s easy. You have a lot of money, and you give it away’. But to do philanthropy well, you have to understand social problems and what is at the root of them, you have to be able to take in a lot of information and evaluate what an organisation is doing and you have to make hard choices. Donors have a lot of challenges and I want students to understand their perspective,”

Examining philanthropy from different angles and perspectives, most of these courses involve lectures and readings on the history of philanthropy, issues in the grant-making process and concerns in philanthropy and public policy. I am also thrilled to read that these courses are gradually attracting students majoring in general business management other than non-profit studies. As philanthropy has evolved and morphed through the decades, branches of it have extended across sectors and disciplines and it’s about time that we recognize its impact on our society and understand it outside the box in a critical and analytical way!

What’s Next for Philanthropy?

When Bob sends an email and says, “I would be interested in hearing your views on “What’s Next” in philanthropy, I know that he’s trying to help me get the thoughts out of my head and onto paper.  Prompting me with Monitor Institute’s newest publication on “What’s Next for Philanthropy”, he’s likely a bit stunned by the route I’m about to take – in advocating for some deeply systemic shifts.  (There’s a future body of scholarly work here for me.)

Monitor sets out a beautiful framework, as all very gifted and thoughtful consulting agencies should and sometimes do.  Their graphic on “acting bigger” and “adapting better” certainly makes sense as philanthropy moves into a more evaluated, networked, transparent, and collaborative mode.   How funders work with governments and the public will certainly be of interest moving forward.  Whether interventions produce results will continue to refine strategies.  Hearing directly from the field will enhance top-down decision making.

The “creative tensions” that exist within philanthropy as we know it today are well articulated.  Urgency vs. patience.  Autonomy vs. collaboration.   Rigor vs. risks.  My only critique of the actual document is based on what I see as the core tension of Monitor’s thesis – acting bigger is exactly the thing that will make it difficult to adapt better.  More folks, more interests at the table = harder to shift, change, and be flexible.

What’s fascinating yet challenging to me is much of the thought in philanthropy is driven from an organizational communication/behavior lens.  This lens is absolutely valuable in that it examines behavior and management within complex organizations, and philanthropy is made of people and organizations.   Using this lens we gain insight into the role of funders, relationships between different interest groups, practical measures for improving our daily work, etc.

The organizational behavior allows us room to wiggle in our understanding of philanthropy, but only to a point – as is the case with any lens or world view.   If I was to stop and answer Bob’s question from this lens,  I’d say that Monitor needs to go further in their “what’s next”.  That their actual scope of philanthropy is still too narrow, still using current constructs of funders and beneficiaries.   Rather, from this lens, I’m much more onside with Dan Palotta’s work in Uncharitable for the fact that he gets us to “what’s next” by asking the question of “why we are here”.

The framework that Pallotta uses asks us to first understand where our culture of philanthropy began – Puritanism, in his view – and then challenges us to move further along the organizational behavior spectrum to understand the connection between how we expect nonprofits to run and why social issues continue to exist.  It’s in this space that we are able to examine the concepts and practices of the “socials”: enterprise, entrepreneurship, finance and business.

The Monitor report states that the status quo is not an option, and perhaps, from an organizational behavior standpoint we really can “act bigger” and “adapt better”.  But changing the status quo depends largely on the lens you are using to understand the status quo.   For purposes of really answering Bob’s question, I want to shift our lens of philanthropy a degree or two – just over to a sociological or anthropological view.  It’s an important shift because we’ll end up viewing a concept in a completely new light.

For example, take the concept of entrepreneurship.   From an organizational/business perspective entrepreneurship is a form of work.  However, move over to sociology and you’ll find folks who will tell you its leisure  (serious leisure, though vs. casual leisure).   If we do this same shift with the concept of philanthropy, we might find ourselves less willing to abandon our status quo – though it could do us more good if we did.

Steven Feierman writes[1],

“…philanthropy’s forms are inextricably wedded to the particular forms of dominance and privilege in each historical time and historical place.” (p. 21)

Philanthropy, as we envision it in a Western society and market system, is a desire by successful entrepreneurs to “give back.”[2] In the system that we’ve created, it is a generous and honorable action.  And the successes of philanthropy are well documented, where would we be without Carnegie’s gift of libraries and Rockefellers’ commitment to medical research?

Attempting not to advocate for a different economic system, I don’t think you play by one set of rules on one side of the line and then suddenly want another set for the other side.  (The line being the “profit” line.)  If your economic system is set up to enhance individual actions and reward comparative advantage – then you can’t just say, “well, but our philanthropic/social issues mechanism should be collective & coordinated, based on donations & voluntary, and done for the good of the whole community.”

Under our Western and market system, I struggle to understand why we’re pushing nonprofits and philanthropy to work in a way that we haven’t designed them (organizationally or culturally) to do so.  Western society (generally, North America/Europe), in the study of intercultural communications, values self-realization as our primary goal, advocates people as unique & separate entities, and admires personal success.  We’re not known for valuing group membership, defining ourselves in relation to others, or celebrating a group’s success the same as personal success.  On some level, don’t we actually attribute the success of the West to these characteristics?

To provide one example that would really challenge our true status quo, John Grim writes about aboriginal traditions of the “lifeway”.  Lifeway describes the intrinsic interaction of both world view and economy – the full interaction of the human, spiritual, and material spaces in society.  When speaking of community or philanthropy in this perspective, there is no separate term for “the public good”.  Rather, voluntary service and sharing is not separate from the communal life or lifeway[3].   I think I’ve accidentally hit on this sentiment when I’ve said “philanthropy is a lifestyle.”

Monitor is quite right in their assessment,

“Without rethinking incentive systems that guide behavior, change in philanthropy will likely remain elusive.”

I would argue that we’ve got to know which incentive system we’re talking about and for what kind of change we’re hoping.  “What’s next” for me means that advances in organizational behavior theory won’t get us all of the way there.  At some point we’ll need to ask ourselves, if we are to change the status quo in philanthropy, what does that mean for changing the status quo the way we run our society?

And more importantly and most difficult, from this lens, do we actually want to change the status quo?

(I’ve got more work to do on my thinking, but it’s a direction I enjoy.  Bob, I know this is nothing that you expected, but then I hope you quite enjoy that!)

How do you use your time?

Time is money. Time has become a hot commodity in society today. Everyone is busy. We are fighting for time between work and family. In addition to financial support, we are “fundraising” for time, evident in the recent 5th Annual Calgary Timeraiser just happened couple of weeks ago.

Just last week, we asked the staff at the SVP international network of 26 affiliates to take an informal survey on volunteer management. One of the questions we asked was what are the top three reasons preventing people from volunteering and the outcome was consistent (not surprising) that many SVP Partners (who are high skill volunteers) across the continent simply don’t have enough time, even if they are interested and intend to help!

Although this is not a new concept, it got me thinking – how can we make giving, volunteering, contributing back to your community top of the priority list amongest family, work, and exercise? Is it a matter of marketing and making certain issues closer to people’s emotions and personal lives so that more would take action? Or is it a major cultural shift that requires a mass movement changing people’s way of thinking? How can we help people decide how to use their precious and valuable time?

Our SVP Give event at Eau Claire tomorrow also inspired another thought – giving can be in many forms, not just money, but also measured in time. Is it to give your time to read an article and understand what is going on in your community? Or perhaps it is to take a couple of hours to bring out your family on a run for breast cancer? Or is it to take a summer to build a website for a nonprofit?

Would you spare an hour of your lunch time to come out and show your support for the hardworking impactful local nonprofits, to hear their stories, and decide for yourself how you can get more involved?

Do what you can.

This quote arrived in my email inbox this week:

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.  (Theodore Roosevelt)

Earlier in the week, I heard it said another way, “Do your share.  Know your share.”

And this morning, I found a note I wrote last August (which I love), “If you help, this will get better.”

Why the universe lines up little hints like this is beyond me.  But when they stack up like this, I stand back and take notice.

In our blog, I usually try to write something related to specifically to  philanthropy. .. how to give better, more effectively, with more intention…etc.  But the element that I find so powerful in these thoughts is not about the technical or professional side of the field, it is really about asking ourselves, “what brings us joy?” and then doing that.  What we “should” be doing doesn’t matter.   In fact, the “how we give, how we donate our time, and how we engage in our community” are all greatly improved if we can find the joy.

And this is the important part, “joy” doesn’t have to be complex.  It actually may be incredibly simple & seemingly quite “uninteresting”.   Personally, and for some reason I can’t quite figure out, I adore manual labor.  LOVE IT!  I love the opportunities to pick up trash, build stuff, garden, lift boxes, etc.  You can imagine that it took me sometime to figure this out, and longer, to actually admit it.  After all, aren’t I “suppose” to want to do “interesting” things like draw up a strategic plan, think about social enterprise, and sign up to volunteer in Africa?

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” because “if you help, it’ll get better.”

It’s simple.  Possibly uninteresting.  But there is no guilt in that statement.  The only requirement is to know what brings you joy, and do just that.

Do Nonprofit Boards Really Want Younger Members? The Answer is YES!

It is needless to say how essential Board members are to an organization, whether for profit or not for profit. They provide directions and guidance, they present opportunities to potential resources and networks, and some fund raise (36% according to the Assessing Not-for profits Boards: Governance Structures and Practices report done by Innovative Research Group in 2009).

In addition to the common topics around effective Board governance such as diversity of the member skills and development, fundamental training and retention, time commitment and fundraising, discussions and questions on the age of Board members are also on the rise recently. 

How many Board members of your organization are under the age of 30?

Asking this question is not meant to disrespect all of the more mature Board members because of their age in any way, nor does it undermine the huge support and great skills that those members have given to our industry. The reason why there is an emphasis on “under the age of 30″ is because that age bracket includes all of Generation Y, which is the largest generational demographic behind the Baby Boomers at 80 million strong! Just imagine the amount of potentials and resources available in that sheer number!

Considering the pros and cons, the benefits of having young Board members include:
 - Fresh perspective on old problems,
 - Access and ability to new technology and networks,
 - Result-oriented thinking,
 - Passion for the mission,
 - and the willingness to try new things;

Some concerns about recruiting youn members may include:
 - Qualifications, accountability and commitment,
 - Concerns of isolation (of being the only young person the board),
 - The need to have younger generation on boards,
 - Or even where to find them!

From the perspective of providing services to those who make up our community, maybe it is time to re-examine who sits on your Board. From the stance of involving those who have potentials of being effective and dedicated with a fresh approach, perhaps we ought to think about which generation of audience and voices do our Board members represent, and consider expanding that scope to give us a bigger picture of our society today!

For young folks out there who are looking to give back to your community in a different way but not sure how - join a Board! Become a part and help steering that organization which always touches your heart, and be a voice in your community!

(Inspiration and some facts of this blog entry is from “Do Nonprofit Boards Really Want Younger Members?” by Rosetta Thurman in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.)

My Experience with Poverty in the Community

Urban Exposure Project 2010: Poverty in the Community is a volunteer project that I am a part of, using photography to document my own learnings and reflections on this social issue in Calgary. As part of the learning process, I went out on a little adventure with a few friends over the weekend, walking in downtown on Stephen’s Ave, all the way to Chinatown and looping back along the c-train line, observing and hoping to be inspired.

I went out with an optimism that there are people out there who are doing their best to overcome poverty and all they need is just a little bit more understanding and help from the society to guide them onto the right track. I also went out with an open mind eager to learn about the stories behind each person wondering on the street or busy working on a weekend. The outcome at the end of my adventure was bitter and sweet.

I met a young man on 8th Ave near Flames Central, his name is Henry. He’s 20 years old originally from Ontario. He just got laid off a month ago and is now living in the Homeless Shelter because he couldn’t afford rent on his part time job delivering papers for the Calgary Herald. He was energetic, clean groomed and dressed, and very open to answer all of my questions. He has 5 years of experience working in kitchens, but now having a real hard time finding a job due to the economy. He also mentioned the discrimination he’s experienced as soon as people find out that he currently does not have a permanent home address.

During our short conversation, he asked me to spare him 40 cents for a phone call. He said he needed to call some restaurants where he applied for jobs. I was sympathetic of his situation and also hopeful to see someone living in poverty is still trying hard to turn things around. I was optimistic in that whatever we (the people who want to help in society) do have a positive effect in some ways. He was almost the ideal example I could find and I felt good about stepping outside of my comfort zone to understand what poverty means to this young man.

I left with satisfaction and a sense of wanting to contribute more. When I was waiting to cross the street at a traffic light two blocks down, a street cleaner sweeping the curb came up to me and said

“How much did you give him, young lady? He fooled ya!”

I was confused…and I replied “5 bucks.”

Then he said, “Oh perfect! Just enough for a beer!”

Chatting with the street cleaner, I learned he has been sweeping 8 Ave for two years now and he had heard Henry asking for money and telling people the same story many times already. The street cleaner showed contempt towards Henry saying that he was just lazy regardless of having a healthy body, intact limbs that are more than enough to find a job to support himself. He claimed that Henry is an alcoholic who rather bag for money than getting back on his feet. In contrast, he’s doing everything he can include sweeping the street on a Saturday afternoon in order to feed and support his entire family.

A combination of emotions flood over me. Anger that I was fooled and that I was too naive, sympathy towards Henry’s situation nevertheless, apathy because of the lies and human nature, and a faint memory of slightly smelling that alcohol 0n Henry…

Obviously, Henry and the street cleaner are just two examples of the different perspectives of poverty out there in our community. After the emotions fade away and calming down, I recognize that there are many layers of issues contributing to the root of poverty, both internal and external problems. My friends explained it as that Henry didn’t lie intentionally, he was just too desperate for his current needs that he would make up stories to get alcohol, which is probably the main reason why he’s impoverished. His act of lying does not erase the fact that he is in poverty and he still needs help.

I wonder, is it simply a matter of personal choice or is it deeper than that? No surprise that there is a tension out there between those who dedicate their lives to help end poverty and those who are skeptical about whether all the charitable works have a impact or not when personal choice is really the determining factor! Now, if it’s really a matter of personal choice, is it realistic to have a goal to end poverty someday? I mean, it’s scary to think that a small decision could set back all the effort people put in trying to help! Perhaps it’s part of human nature that we keep hope and strive towards that goal.

Even though I work in the non-profit sector, I am still learning. For others who contemplate these same questions, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Know what your work is worth

A colleague sent me this video the other day, posted on Katya’s Non Profit Marketing Blog.  It made me both laugh and cringe.

We’d never find ourselves bartering with our hair stylist or in a restaurant on the price of a service received.  We’d certainly never do it after we’ve already had our highlights done or eaten three entrees.  We understand the value of the service being provided – and agree to the costs upfront.

There are costs associated with every organization – each product, each program.  The non-profit sector needs to both educate folks about their costs, and at the same time, not apologize for having them. 

Once we get more comfortable, as a sector, around the real costs of running our programs – we can educate funders, donors and the community.  And we’ll stop undercutting ourselves.

Gettin’ comfy around here: Donor Socialization

A new report is out from Michael Moody and the USC Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy on the effect of donor socialization.  A slim 41 pages ask & answer the question, what does it take to become a venture philanthropist.  Not viewed from the investment or evaluation side, but through the lens of cultural and personal socialization.

Having both experiential and educational tracks, Social Venture Partners is the perfect organization to expand our understanding of how donors are socialized & how this affects their giving experiences.  As SVP Calgary, we weren’t surprised to hear that most Partners find participation in the experiential tracks, both through the Investment Committee (grantmaking) and with the Investees (volunteering), to be the most rewarding.

There is a truth to “you get out if it how much you put into it” – and as the report alludes, that effort is directly correlated to increased empowerment and confidence in Partner’s personal giving.  After involvement with SVP, Partners tend to give larger gifts to fewer organizations – usually organizations whom they know deeply.

I’m a geek, but the words “donor socialization” made me giddy.  It’s not just about writing a check, its about cultivating an entire culture.