harp-weaver is an independent philanthropic advisory firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Teresa Araco Rodgers, the principal, works with individuals and families to gift to issues that matter in a meaningful way.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Do More Than Give

Do More Than Give by Crutchfield, Kania and Kramer is about catalytic philanthropy. The idea behind catalytic philanthropy starts with two main premises:

1. Donors have something valuable to contribute beyond their money. The clout, connections, business know-how, and political savvy that foundation leaders, business executives, and many individual donors possess are key resources in advancing causes – resources that nonprofits often lack.

2. We all inhabit an increasingly complex and globally interdependent world that is changing with unprecedented speed. Although social and environmental problems have been with us throughout human history, today’s challenges are of a whole new order.

According to Do More Than Give, there are 6 practices which can be employed by donors who really want to make an impact in the issues they care about.

1. Advocate for Change: Systemwide change is rarely achieved without a range of advocacy efforts including raising awareness, educating the public and lobbying.
2. Blend Profit with Purpose: Social entrepreneurs are finding that business models that blend profit with purpose can scale up to address social problems more rapidly and sustainably than traditional nonprofits. Catalytic donors are learning to tap into the power of business as an engine for advancing the greater good.
3. Forge Nonprofit Peer Networks: This is about forging partnerships and relationships – nonprofits, corporations, foundations working together across a spectrum in order to achieve collective impact that no single organization could ever deliver alone.
4. Empower the People: Don’t treat individual community members as recipients of charity. Instead view them as essential participants in the process of solving problems for themselves. Solicit individuals for ideas and involve them.
5. Lead Adaptively: There is an important skill to learn and use – the ability to see changes and opportunities in their environment and to orchestrate the activities of key players to advance their cause.
6. Learn in order to Change: This is about building systems that enable donor and grantees to learn about what’s working and what needs to be fixed in real time in order to advance a cause. As a result, they build learning organizations.