Over the past year, as I’ve been writing for various publications of the Minnesota Council on Foundations and reading extensively on philanthropy, the word that’s rising to the top more and more is “leverage.”
Dictionary.com defines the word several ways, but the most relevant to philanthropy are:
The power or ability to act or to influence people, events, decisions, etc.; sway.
The use of a small initial investment, credit or borrowed funds to gain a very high return in relation to one’s investment, to control a much larger investment, or to reduce one’s own liability for any loss.
As part of my research for our spring issue of Giving Forum, which will focus on innovation in philanthropy, I am reading the annual reports of several MCF members. The 2009 report of West Central Initiative (WCI) was filled with stories of how it is leveraging its funding in the nine counties and 83 communities the foundation serves in west central Minnesota.
Among the highlights:
WCI’s Community Organizing and Visioning Grant was joined with a variety of public and private funding to energize stewards in Bemidji, Alexandria and Fergus Falls to create “destiny statements” envisioning the future of their communities and measurable goals to achieve.
WCI is acting as fiscal host, grant writer and coordinator of the Early Childhood Dental Network, which has grown into a regional effort to combat a deficiency in access to oral health care.
Gap financing – such as that provided to local entrepreneurs, including TFC Poultry in Ashby – is supporting job creation and business establishment and expansion in rural Minnesota.
WCI used its expertise to help community organizers map out a fundraising effort and create the Pelican Rapids School Fund to raise and administer funds when the school levy referendum failed and the school district faced dire cutbacks.
These are energizing, motivating and inspirational ways WCI is bringing to life the concept of “leveraging” – using its resources to push other resources as WCI pursues its mission in greater Minnesota.
– Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate
I heard a “fad vs. revolution” question posed on the radio this morning on the way to work. It was in reference to another topic, but it struck me, because I’ve been thinking this past weekend about all the various ways individuals are donating to the relief efforts in Haiti – via text messaging being the vehicle most prominently publicized.
Fad or future? What's your take on using SMS or texting to make donations?
I’ve been keeping my eyes open for any organization that is asking people to send in checks, but those appeals are almost nonexistent as most organizations are directing donors to their websites. A few are promoting phone numbers that take credit card donations, but these also are rare.
Is appealing for financial support via text messaging a fad or a revolution? How many more people will donate who wouldn’t have given otherwise, because it’s just a quick few punches with the thumbs and $10 is on its way? Preliminary numbers certainly point to the success of this appeal. If people give $10 via texting, but they would like to give more, will they? How?
Charitable giving is a $5.5 billion endeavor in Minnesota, according to MCF’s Giving in Minnesota, 2009 Edition research. Of this, 76 percent or $4.19 billion came from individuals. Over the past decade, charitable giving in Minnesota increased 67 percent, and the number of grantmakers in the state rose by more than 65 percent. In just a year, from 2006 to 2007, foundations and corporate giving programs increased their giving by 10.1 percent to $1.32 billion.
Has innovation or evolution in philanthropy contributed to this increase? What factors – technology, outreach strategies, messaging, donor-advised initiatives to name just a few examples – are redefining how and what we give? Which individuals and organizations are leading the way? These topics and more will be the focus of our spring issue of Giving Forum.
In the meantime, join the conversation on texting to support relief efforts in Haiti by commenting on this entry. I’m interested to hear others’ perspectives.
- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate
Now, resources from many of these sessions are available online.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, unable to leave D.C. because of the health care debate, sent her keynote remarks via video. Below, she discusses how these unprecedented times for our country are a call to think and act anew – to meet the challenges head on – to examine every opportunity to bring together government, the private sector, nonprofits and communities to build a better future. She also highlights recent developments in D.C., as well as new initiatives in Minnesota. (Close-captioning for this video will be available in the coming weeks.)
Conference presentations and handouts from many of the breakouts are posted online and accessible on the conference website’s Download Center.
Despite the down economy, the 2009 Joint Conference of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and the Minnesota Council on Foundations drew a record 1,700 attendees. MCN and MCF partner to present a joint conference every three years.
- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate
Attention Minnesota nonprofits, this is a reminder that the GiveMN Give to the Max Day begins November 17 starting at 8 am and goes until 8 am on November 18! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to gain a portion of matching funds for every donation made to your nonprofit using the GiveMN service that day.
Bush Foundation, The Minneapolis Foundation and The Saint Paul Foundation are sponsoring Give to the Max Day and are offering multiple incentives for donors to participate:
Transaction costs for gifts made on Give to the Max Day will be covered, so 100 percent of gifts will go straight to nonprofits.
Every donation made on Give to the Max Day will receive a portion of a $500,000 match. The exact amount matched per dollar donated will be determined after Give to the Max Day concludes, and the $500,000 in matching funds will be divided by the total donation amount raised over the 24-hour period.
Grants will be awarded to the three nonprofits that have the largest number of individuals who make donations during Give to the Max Day.
To help you promote this special opportunity, the staff at GiveMN has put together a user-friendly Tool Kit specifically about Give to the Max Day. You can find the Tool Kit at the GiveMN website.
Not signed up yet? Get started here. Are you a funder? Consider sending out a dedicated message regarding the GiveMN giving service to your grantees. All the info you need can be found at GiveMN.org.
The back-to-school honeymoon phase is over at our house. We’re now diving head first into the myriad of multi-month projects that will takeover the remainder of the school year.
Our middle and high schools participate in the National History Day (NHD) competition, using the annual NHD themes as springboard for students’ development of research papers, displays, drama and media presentations and websites. With Project Outline Step One due to the teacher this week, we spent our weekend brainstorming on possible topics to fit this year’s theme – “Innovation in History: Impact and Change” (pdf.)
NHD always does a great job of provoking students’ thinking about historic, cultural and social aspects related to the theme. Here are a few nuggets related to innovation:
Innovation involves some sort of change, but not all changes are innovations.
With innovation, you should be able to say what previous ideas, objects, actions or institutions were replaced.
Innovation is the result of human ideas or actions.
The short term is the impact of the innovation, and the long term is the change over time brought about by the innovation.
To help put the innovation in historical context and discern its legacy, ask “why?” and “so what?”
It was this nugget that got me thinking about innovation in philanthropy: Innovation suggests creative new approaches to any facet of life. Innovation is creative individuals who set out to solve a problem, take advantage of opportunities, or build on the development of other innovators.
I thought that some sort of link to philanthropy would be a great take on the NHD theme, but this didn’t fly with my child, so she’s pursuing another topic.
But, you and I can keep the conversation going via this blog.
If we were to look back at the history of philanthropy, what innovations have most impacted and changed our field?
- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate
Ever since the Major League Baseball All-Star game in mid-July, I’ve been thinking about the pre-game video. And, now that my beloved sport is reaching its regular season conclusion in the next couple of weeks, I thought I’d finally blog about my unexpected, impactful encounter with that six-minute video.
Did you see it? There I was, sitting on my couch waiting for Pres. Obama to throw out the first pitch. Instead, what came next from St. Louis were Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Carter appealing to us to go beyond, to do good work daily, to volunteer. They highlighted the stories of five “All Stars Among Us,” individuals who were not intimidated by challenges, but inspired by the difference they could make.
What struck me about these stories is that these folks are ordinary people who are transforming their world in simple, extraordinary ways because they chose to act. Not just talk about needs and what ifs, but taking it upon themselves to step up to the plate and do something.
Well, I’m trying to step up and do some sort of good work daily – whether it’s an organized activity or a spontaneous gesture. Opportunities abound. If you’re at all inclined to explore the possibilities for action, check out the website referenced in the All-Star video, http://www.serve.gov/. Other appropriate names for this site could be do.org or act.com.
You get the point.
- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate
Labor Day has come and gone. Summer’s over and the kids are back in school. The daily rigor of math tables and spelling and vocabulary lists has begun.
When those vocab lists start coming home, I wonder if “philanthropy” will ever be on the list. And if it is, how many of us would be able to spell it or pronounce it, and what would be the definition the teacher would expect students to memorize?
MCF co-produced a video in 2004 titled “Philanthropy Is.” Through “person-on-the-street” encounters, it becomes clear in the piece that some people have never heard the funny-sounding word before or thought about its meaning. Through interviews with donors, it also becomes clear that what philanthropy means to each donor is as individual as the donor.
Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines philanthropy as “goodwill to fellowmen; active effort to promote human welfare.”
Wikipedia states: “Philanthropy derives from Ancient Greek, meaning ‘to love people.’ Philanthropy is the act of donating money, goods, services, time and/or effort to support a socially beneficial cause, with a defined objective and with no financial or material reward to the donor.”
Neither of these definitions resonated with me. They lacked the passion, earnestness and commitment that I’ve come to associate with philanthropy.
What is most striking to me, though, is that philanthropy is not a verb. Aren’t verbs action words, and isn’t the very nature of philanthropy “action?” I’ve yet to meet a philanthropist or someone working in philanthropy who wasn’t all about “doing.”
Imagine using “philanthropy” as a verb.
Did you ever think you’d see the day when the more common usage of “friend” was as a verb? That must be wreaking havoc with teachers who have “friend” as a vocabulary word in their lesson plans!
Now that those funny-sounding words “google” and “bing” have become verbs too, how much action would it take by all of us to turn the tongue-twisting word – “philanthropy” – into a commonly used verb?
- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate
"Catalytic philanthropy" is defined as an individual philanthropist igniting social change around a specific issue.
The author relates a fascinating story of how Tom Siebel, founder of the software company Siebel Systems, has had a significant impact in reducing the abuse of methamphetamines in Montana and in reducing the crime that typically stems from meth abuse.
Siebel personally dug into the root causes of meth abuse in Montana and developed a strategy, which he called The Meth Project. He brought together experts in the field as well as an advertising agency to develop a compelling ad campaign that would reach a significant majority of young people in Montana. The ads, which were tested in focus groups, are described by this author as being “world-class” and “gut-wrenching.”
As a result, between 2005 and 2007:
Meth use in Montana dropped 45% among teens and 72% among adults.
Meth-related crimes dropped 62%.
The percentage of teenagers who were aware of meth’s dangers increased from 25% to 93%.
In the article the author, Mark R. Kramer, who is a cofounder and managing director of FSG Social Impact Advisors, and who was also a cofounder of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, identifies and describes “Four Practices of Catalytic Philanthropy:”
Take Responsibility for Achieving Results.
Mobilize a Campaign for Change.
Use All Available Tools.
Create Actionable Knowledge.
He also provides several other examples of catalytic philanthropy, including some work done by the F.B. Heron Foundation with the Minneapolis-based Community Reinvestment Fund.
Kramer notes that conventional philanthropy, “Serves an essential function in supporting major nonprofit institutions, enriching many lives, and providing assistance to countless individuals in need.” He also notes that venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship have important roles to play.
He identifies catalytic philanthropy as an alternative to these approaches. Though catalytic philanthropy typically requires far greater engagement on the part of the donor, it is also more likely to have a major impact on a challenging social concern about which the donor cares deeply.
Join the Conversation: Can you think of other examples of catalytic philanthropy? Does catalytic philanthropy seem like a viable strategy for accomplishing your philanthropic goals? Does it seem too risky or time-consuming?
- Cindy Moeller, MCF director of professional development and member services
Posted by Chris Noonan 
