Transparency in philanthropy is important, and this blog presents a useful tool for those of us working in funding organisations to answer two questions: How transparent are we? Is this level of transparency appropriate for an organisation of our type and size? But first, a bit about what transparency in philanthropy means in practice and…
Continue reading →We’re pretty lucky, us funders. We don’t usually pay tax. We can’t easily go broke. We rarely receive public criticism. And, unlike the US, where private foundations are required to give away at least 5% of their investment assets per year, funders in Aotearoa NZ are subject to few legislative requirements. In other words, we…
Continue reading →If philanthropy could be as innovative and impactful as possible, what might our world look like?* Three inspiring speakers at the recent Philanthropy New Zealand biennial conference, Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft, Judge Carolyn Henwood and Rangimarie Naida Glavish, presented a clear and inspiring picture of a land without child poverty, without child abuse, and where…
Continue reading →Here are four different perspectives on the characteristics of a good funder: The criteria for “Philanthropy at its best” proposed by the US-based National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy are particularly useful in my opinion; see the one page version or the full paper. They propose a manageable number of holistic but measurable criteria, eg “Invests…
Continue reading →There’s lots of good that philanthropy does in our world, but there’s also so much more that is possible. For starters, I would love to see philanthropy become more plentiful, enabling, transparent and equitable, and here’s why: Plentiful: What more could be achieved if all of us gave a little extra so that through our…
Continue reading →Where does philanthropy end and dirty self-promotion begin? This was the question posed at the recent and fabulous Auckland Writer’s Festival to British philosopher Julian Baggini, economist and philanthropist Gareth Morgan and me by Radio NZ presenter Wallace Chapman. Here’s how we answered this question – plus a few other key points: Philanthropy ends when…
Continue reading →If you are part of a community organisation which seeks funding, how would you describe your relationships with funders? I am just back from the fabulous and thought-provoking Grantmakers for Effective Organisations biennial conference in Minneapolis. In the first of several blog posts, here’s my interpretation of an analysis of funder – grantee relationships by…
Continue reading →I recently gave a presentation in Christchurch New Zealand with Iain Hines from J R McKenzie Trust to “Seed” – the bi-annual conference of the Combined Community Trusts. Here are the key points, and the presentation is below. As funders, we need our processes for finding, selecting and reporting on funding to be in the…
Continue reading →Here are two useful rules of thumb for philanthropy: First do no harm Err on the side of generosity These are neither new nor radical, but they are important and complementary considerations – and are sometimes neglected. The “first do no harm” principle is so obvious it is generally taken as read, but I think…
Continue reading →It’s a good time of year for looking back and reflecting… Earlier this year I stepped down from my Executive Director role at Todd Foundation to become an independent consultant. Here is an article I wrote recently about the lessons learned in my 10 years with Todd Foundation. (This was originally published in the December…
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