GOOD TO KNO W

While the Boomer generation has long been touted as the largest and wealthiest, people born since 1964 are growing in importance as donors as they enter their peak earning years (typically 45 to 65) and as their interests increasingly shape debate about what is important. Compared with those born before 1964, younger donors tend to favor international causes and education over health and arts, for example.

 

Valuing the importance of making social investments during their lifetimes;

Emphasis on personal engagement and on organizational effectiveness and efficiency;

A global vision of solving “problems of human suffering”(p. 3); and

Use of a “hybrid model” that blends gifts (under tax law definitions) with investment in for-profit businesses and other approaches to distributing resources.

The cases profiled were Bill and Melinda Gates; Pierre Omidyar (e-Bay); Jeffrey Skoll (e-Bay); Stephen Case (AOL); and Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google).

In Philanthrocapitalism, Matthew Bishop (of The Economist magazine) and Michael Green (a professional economist) also explore new models (and some old ones) of sharing wealth. 21 They interviewed a number of current prominent donors, including Bono,

Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, George Soros, and Ted Turner, among many others.

In an interview with The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Mr. Bishop and Mr. Green said that they want their book to “spark a public debate about the role of well-heeled donors in fighting social ills.” 22

Even before it appeared, commentators debated the work’s premises and conclusions. Among these were Michael Edwards, a program officer at the Ford Foundation, who wrote, “…what separates the good and bad performers is not whether they come from business or civil society…but whether they have a clear focus to their work, strong learning and accountability mecha-nisms… and the ability to motivate their staff members or volunteers…” 23 Phil Buchanan of the Center for Effective Philanthropy wrote, “The biggest mistake [in this book] comes in equating… ‘impact’ and ‘strategic philanthropy’ with ‘business’ and ‘capitalism.’” He

 

GOOD TO KNO W

Heightened awareness of philanthropic terms, such as “impact philanthropy,” and similar concepts, is likely to lead many donors to adopt concerns and trends reported in the media about charitable giving. Nonprofit organizations that can show how their operations are effective and efficient will be well-placed to attract contributions from donors who seek to maximize the social change that they can bring about with their dollars.