Council on Foundations Annual Conference

The Council on Foundations is hosting its annual conference this week. Thanks to the Internet, those of us who could not attend are able to read articles and summaries of the sessions. The keynote speaker today was Bill Somerville. He is the author of Grassroots Philanthropy and the President of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation. In his speech, he called for reform in philanthropy. He believes that too much time is spent on small grants and that this is ineffective. There is a huge burden on nonprofits to go through a lengthy and time consuming application process. He told young people in the field, "We need to do better."

He challenges foundations to go paperless, to turn around grant requests in 48 hours and to give discretion to staff. Bill believes it is about trusting people. He had some pretty tough words around metrics and outcomes. I agree with him that funders need to ask the nonprofits how they measure success, but I do believe a lot of good work is being done around performance.

Given my background in investment management, I like this line the best. "We're investing in people who are worthy of that investment. You are all investment managers."

I found his speech inspirational. Check out the work of Philanthropic Ventures Foundation at www.venturesfoundation.org.

Back to the Books

Its been some time since I have written. I started classes to obtain the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy designation. I am taking two classes. One is on Planned Giving and the other is on Impact. There are some interesting readings that are serving to be a nice refresher for me. Reading and attending class makes me think back to my days at the Fels Institute where I earned my Masters Degree. I was working at SEI developing the Philanthropy business and attending school full time. It was an indulgant time for me. I am certainly one of those people who enjoys learning in the classroom. There are opportunities to read and process. So often we read articles and books, but don't give ourselves the chance to process the information let alone apply the learning. I had a really unique opportunity to learn, to process and to apply. I think families are faced with this same challenge. Charitable gifting is time-consuming. You want to understand and learn about the issue. You want to investigate the nonprofit and its programs processing how those programs address the issue. And you want to apply your resources. For smaller foundations or for families with donor advised funds (both without staff) the joy in gifting could turn into a burden. I worked with a second generation family and they struggled with the work associated with gifting money in a thoughtful and consistent way without staff. This is why the support of a philanthropic advisor can be so important and really make the difference for a family.

Haiti Post-Quake Donor Conference

At the Haiti Post-Quake Donor Conference held on March 30, 59 United Nation member states, international institutions and NGO coalitions pledged nearly $10 billion towards rebuilding Haiti over the next 10 years.

There are three major concerns that came out of the conference. First, the $10 billion are just pledges. The money needs to come through and with Bill Clinton admitting he has only raised 30 percent of his orginal goal, it does call the reconstruction pot into question. Second, there is significant concern over the infrastructure in Haiti to support reconstruction. Conference attendees questioned the Haitian government that has historically been wasteful and corrupt. And finally, there is a lot of criticism on the ground in Haiti calling out the fact that local grassroots organizations are not being included in the decision-making about how funds should be deployed.

From what I have read, there still does not exist a plan to rebuild Haiti. Its really surprising to come to this point given all of the media attention and heavyweight support this catastrophy has received.

International Femtor Awards

I just read about the 2010 International Femtor Awards. A Femtor is "a wise and trusted woman providing knowledge, inspiration and practical information to other women." I like the idea of a Femtor. Thinking back on my own career and influencers, I think of mostly men. I have been lucky to have had experiences with men who have had my best interests in mind and from whom I could learn. As I get older though, I find myself seeking other women for advice and inspiration. I have had the opportunity to reconnect with former colleagues and women in my community as I investigate establishing a Giving Circle and building a business. My conversations with women are different than I have experienced before. They flow back and forth between personal life and business life. For women, I think this is natural because there is little separation.

What's Going on in Haiti?

Just read an article by Jonathan M, Katz called, "Billions for Haiti, a criticism for every dollar." The article states that the estimated bill for the earthquake in Haiti is $2.2 billion. Americans have gifted over $1 billion with the vast majority ($980 million) coming from private individuals. Aid groups and Haitian officials have admitted to be overwhelmed by the scale. There is a lot of frustration on the part of Haitian officials because they feel they have no control of the money, goods, and services coming in. There is a Post-Quake Donor Conference in New York taking place on March 31. It will be interesting to read about what's been accomplished thus far and what areas are needed. My husband and I purposely chose to wait a bit before giving a donation. We wanted the dust to settle and we wanted to see what organizations are making the best use of funds received. According to the article, "...leaders including Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive are not happy with the way the aid money is being delivered." Further, "Too many people are raising money without any controls, and don't explain what they're doing with it." The U.N. admits that this situation is the most complex humanitarian response they have ever had to deal with. I will track our decision process through this blog. I am waiting on the outcome of the March 30th meeting before taking steps. More to come!

Women's Philanthopy Network

I just joined the Women's Philanthropy Network which was launched by The Philadelphia Foundation. The purpose of the Network is to help area residents exchange ideas on how to give back to the community more creatively and effectively. I welcome the opportunity to connect with other women interested in philanthropy in the Philadelphia area and am excited about my membership. I am more committed than ever to establish a giving circle in Chestnut Hill for women. The aim is to gather women together and drive the activities of the giving circle based upon their collective interests. I am at the early stages of establishing the giving circle and I am focusing on developing the content for an organizational and introductory meeting. More to come!

International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day. It is a day of global celebration of women. The intention of the day has changed since the first celebration in 1911. But in many regions, the original political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong. I find it interesting that the day is an official holiday in some countries but not in the United States. This year's theme is "Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all." United Nation's Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, posted a message to mark the day. In closing he said, "The Beijing Declaration remains as relevant today as when it was adopted. The third Millennium Development Goal – to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment – is central to all the rest. When women are denied the opportunity to better themselves and their societies, we all lose. On this International Women’s Day, let us look critically at the achievements of the past 15 years so we can build on what has worked, and correct what has not. Let us work with renewed determination for a future of equal rights, equal opportunities and progress for all." Today I filed the corporate documents for Harp-Weaver. This is an exciting day for me and I am happy that its on a day that marks women's empowerment.