By Andy Carroll, Exponent Philanthropy
Every 2 to 3 weeks, I explore trends influencing philanthropy by spotlighting articles, reports, and essays in the media. I cast a wide net, venturing beyond philanthropy and traditional topics to consider a variety of ideas, innovations, debates, and critiques. Read previous posts in the series
A Small Community Foundation Experiments With Loans
The Santa Fe Community Foundation has begun making social investments in the form of low-interest loans to build economic opportunity for low-income individuals. One loan helps low- and middle-income families hire contractors for needed repairs; the investment not only helps families build equity but supports local jobs. Bryan Byrnes, foundation president and CEO, says, “How do you deploy capital in neighborhoods that don’t have an investment history?” For Byrnes, this is a perfect challenge for philanthropy, which he calls “the R and D of social change.” “There’s enormous need and enormous potential for creativity.”
As Smaller Cities and Towns Struggle, So Do Their United Ways
While United Ways in communities that are home to large corporations are hitting or exceeding their fundraising targets, United Ways in smaller cities and towns are struggling. According to writer Rick Cohen, these smaller communities lack large corporate employers, and face depressed wages and many part-time workers. They are challenged by rising human service needs and limited local capacity to raise resources to meet those needs.
Nine Ways to Spread Ideas That Work
Writers at Bridgespan bring together ways of achieving one of the holy grails of philanthropy: spreading and multiplying the impact of successful, proven approaches to solving problems. They highlight strategies such as strengthening an entire field, persuading for-profit providers to adopt new approaches, changing public attitudes or behaviors, and influencing policy.
Exponent Philanthropy members are already using some of these strategies successfully: in Connecticut and New York, the Tow Foundation works with partners to spread the use of more effective, less costly, and more humane approaches to juvenile justice; in Oregon, the Leightman Maxey Foundation is supporting a network of agencies to educate the public about ways to eat healthier; and the 1772 Foundation is nurturing the emerging field of revolving loan funds to preserve historic properties across the nation.
The Future: Nonprofits Could Dominate a New Sharing Economy
According to writer Jeremy Rifkin, technology and communications are driving down production costs so dramatically in our economy that we are approaching a time when many goods and services will be produced at almost no cost, and shared widely. He predicts that a new sharing economy will emerge alongside the capitalist market, and that nonprofit organizations will play an ever-larger role in this new “collaborative commons.” Already, he notes, nonprofit revenues grew much faster between 2000 and 2010 than gross domestic product, and recently the growth rate of new nonprofits has far outstripped that of profit-making organizations.
Generosity to Strangers at Drive-Throughs
In what may be a visceral, grassroots reaction to incessant reports of conflict and corruption in the world, citizens are enacting a form of spontaneous philanthropy—paying the tab at drive-throughs for the person in line behind them. Dozens of fast food businesses, donut places, and coffee shops across the country and in Canada report that individual customers regularly pay for their neighbor before driving away. Sometimes generosity has extended across dozens or hundreds of vehicles. A record so far is a chain of 226 customers extending kindness. Some believe the drive-through offers the perfect place to “pay it forward,” because the giving is anonymous. Academics are studying the phenomenon, concluding that it can be “socially contagious.”
In the spirit of spreading ideas that work, how might such generosity be encouraged in other realms of our society to nurture bonds among us?
Senior Program Director Andy Carroll writes resources, designs workshops, and facilitates seminars. He also dedicates a significant portion of his time to managing Exponent Philanthropy’s Leadership Initiative that defines, validates, nurtures, and celebrates the ways small-staffed philanthropists lead. Andy has 25 years of experience in nonprofit organizations, and he enjoys talking with members about their questions, interests, passions, and plans for making a difference.
