Mind-boggling! That’s my take on Growing Philanthropy in the United States, a report from the June 2011 Growing Philanthropy Summit. Its first recommendation is that nonprofits think of the greater good of their cause and philanthropy in general when looking at donor relations rather than just how much they can get of a donor right now.

Changing Investment Strategy Can Solve Problems, Generate Income

by Geri Stengel on Oct 18, 2011 - 12:20am

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Ripples in the investment world are massing into a tidal wave of change in how we finance social good. It is a wave that will encompass investment brokers and philanthropists, venture capitalists and foundations.

Nonprofit Giving Has Changed. Does Your Nonprofit Measure Up?

by Geri Stengel on Oct 6, 2011 - 12:20am

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$23 billion. That’s the decline in giving from 2007 -- the peak giving year -- to 2010.

UJA-Federation of NYC Exemplifies Changes in Philanthropy

by Geri Stengel on Aug 23, 2011 - 12:20am

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Jewish philanthropy is undergoing a transformation. The challenges it faces are a microcosm of the challenges facing the larger philanthropic community.

5 Tips for Attracting Large Donations

by Geri Stengel on Aug 11, 2011 - 12:01am

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Donors are different these days. I’m talking about the individual donor, not foundations. And I’m particularly talking about the donors you hit up for more than $10 per month. How do you inspire donations in the $10,000 range?

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A Hand Up Is Better Than A Hand-out

by Geri Stengel on Jul 5, 2011 - 12:05am

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In a recent interview with Women In Development, Dina Powell, president, Goldman Sachs Foundation, discussed the progress and lessons learned from Goldman’s, 10,000 Women Program, a $100 million effort that began in 2008.

Having the Potential to Scale

by Guest Blogger on Jun 29, 2011 - 1:10pm

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This year’s Social Impact Exchange conference was a great opportunity to bring people together from traditional philanthropy and donor advised funds, as well as high net worth individuals, to engage in a dialogue about the complex issues that are inherent in trying to drive innovation and impact. We’ve walked away better able to understand how we scale promising innovation. We recognize the solutions that we’re all trying to work toward require us to enter into strategic collaborations with many different kinds of partners. We cannot scale something on our own.

Bring Your Hard Heads to Social Investing

by Guest Blogger on Jun 29, 2011 - 12:20pm

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Last week’s second annual Social Impact Exchange conference was filled with high energy, creativity, and a sincere dedication to improving people’s lives by scaling up evidence-based or high-performing social interventions. While many in the room represented philanthropic foundations, individual donors have been and are still the largest source of funding for the nonprofit sector. How can we create markets that successfully tap these sources of wealth for greater social return?

Engaging Philanthropists and Opening New Channels and Sources of Growth Capital

by Geri Stengel on Jun 23, 2011 - 1:56pm

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It’s marketing 101: Emphasize the benefits to the consumers, not the benefit you gain by selling to them.

So, too, with philanthropists and high-net-worth individuals, according to panelists addressing Engaging Philanthropists and Opening New Channels and Sources of Growth Capital at the 2011 Social Impact Exchange’s Conference On Scaling Impact.

Intermediaries Can Leverage Impact of Philanthropic $$$

by Geri Stengel on Jun 16, 2011 - 1:04pm

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It may seem like that dreadful “overhead,” but using an intermediary to put together funding options for scaling a nonprofit … well, it’s an investment in expertise, not a frivolous expense.

That was the point very clearly made by the panel, Intermediaries and Impact: How Can We Make Our Philantrhopic Dollars Go Further By Leveraging the Work of Intermediaries? at the 2011 Social Impact Exchange’s Conference On Scaling Impact.