When people ask me about philanthropy, here is what I usually say: If we are lucky enough to live financially comfortable lives, we should be sharing some of our wealth. And, we should be giving in proportion to what we have. Additionally, our giving should help address the injustices that enabled our wealth. In recent…
Continue reading →Giving is good – but there is a darker side to fundraising and philanthropy which it is useful to be aware of. Examples include organisations soliciting funds for questionable purposes, and donors, businesses or funding organisations using their money to influence democracy in ways which are unethical and/or untransparent. Unfortunately, according to this excellent Radio…
Continue reading →How do we, as funders, better engage with and support Māori communities? What does it mean for a funder to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi? And what is our role in building an Aotearoa of tomorrow where Te Ao Pākehā (the Pākehā world) and Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) work in synergy for the…
Continue reading →Here are two uncomfortable power dynamics in philanthropy: Funding processes can be a kind of “Nonprofit Hunger Games” where frontline community organisations compete against each for favour and “the win.” The power to decide who wins usually sits squarely with funders, yet funders are rarely directly affected by key social issues. It doesn’t have to…
Continue reading →If you are involved in philanthropy in Aotearoa NZ and you haven’t yet registered for the fabulous biennial Philanthropy NZ Summit, May 18 – 20, there’s still time to do so. Here’s a very short movie I did for PNZ explaining why I think this is such a great conference. I will be there and…
Continue reading →Funding agreements – those dry, unexciting documents which funders generally require to be signed before they will pay a grant, are badly in need of a rethink. This blog proposes that funders should instead adopt a Relationship Agreement approach, based on mutual responsibility and accountability. To get straight to the point: Here is a free Funding…
Continue reading →How should funders be supporting our communities in light of the Covid-19 pandemic? All of us will be affected, directly or indirectly. But the impact for families and communities already struggling with issues like homelessness, mental health, addictions, family violence and poverty will be especially challenging. So, it’s time to step up our support funders!…
Continue reading →It’s a new year and a new decade. So, philanthropic funders, what will our New Year’s resolutions be? Here are three suggestions: 1. Aim for Equity: Is our funding reaching the causes and people who need it most? Or do we give to organisations which are already well funded, and which serve communities that are…
Continue reading →There’s a lot of discussion in the farming world about the importance of moving away from extractive practices and instead embracing regenerative agriculture – here’s a recent relevant story from the Waikato. Might some of these same considerations apply to philanthropy? Let me start with a couple of dictionary definitions: extractive: the withdrawal of [natural]…
Continue reading →The Philanthropy Summit, held in Wellington from May 15 – 17 and created by Philanthropy New Zealand, was one of the best learning opportunities I have had in a long time. Here are the top four things I learned: There is a curious and delightful parallel between dental health and a racism-free world. One of…
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