By Andy Carroll, Exponent Philanthropy

I regularly 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  

How Scarcity of Time Locks the Poor Into Cycles of Hardship

Citing recent studies of time scarcity, a writer in the New York Times describes how the daily struggles by low-income people to meet basic and immediate needs consumes all their available time and mental capacity, undermining their ability to make better decisions, perform effectively, and plan ways to improve their income and opportunities. “Attention is finite,” she observes. “The poor are under a deadline that never lifts, pressure that can’t be relieved. If I am poor, I work or I churn until decisions like buying lottery tickets begin to seem like attractive alternatives.” She advocates simplifying sign-up processes for government programs and offering immediate and easy ways for people to save money.

Powerful Innovations Can Be Simple Ones

Anti-hunger advocate Bill Shore profiles one technique for alleviating time pressure on low-income people. In the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Shore explains how the new “community eligibility” provisions, passed by Congress in 2010, will eliminate “school meal applications and fees in high-poverty neighborhoods, reducing administrative burdens for schools and families and stigma for children.” The change will likely add thousands more kids to the federal School Breakfast Program. Says Shore, “Innovation does not necessarily require innovation labs, expensive consultants, new technology, and the other things popularly associated with it. Instead, it may mean a small common-sense tweak that is far enough upstream to change the entire trajectory of a program.”

Impact Investing Enters the Big Time

Impact investing got a huge push from a coordinated effort by the White House and several large foundations to commit a collective $1.5 billion, and from a new report that offers policy recommendations to nurture more such investing. The new investments will support affordable housing, clean energy, quality education, workforce development, and work in other fields. The report by the U.S. National Advisory Board on Impact Investing offers recommendations to remove regulatory barriers, develop next-generation financial instruments and models, and provide incentives for new private impact investment.

Predictions of Sea Level Rise Spark Furor in One Vulnerable Region

Coverage of climate change usually offers big-picture assessments of environmental impact, but a recent Washington Post article tells the specific story how a precise forecast of sea level rise in the Outer Banks of North Carolina has caused turmoil throughout the region. In 2010, the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission assessed the vulnerability of the state’s 20 coastal counties, concluding that by 2100 sea levels would rise 39 inches, inundating 8,500 structures in Dare County alone, and making major roads and bridges impassable. Nationally, according to a new report by the Risky Business Project, a group of financial and political leaders that focuses on quantifying and publicizing the economic risks of a changing climate, $700 billion of coastal property could be below mean sea level by century’s end—without new policies to address climate change. On the Outer Banks, a coalition of realtors, home builders, and local county leaders is pressuring the state not to officially release the findings. They fear that activating the state’s website with detailed inundation forecasts would immediately cause thousands of properties to be worthless, undermining the region’s economy.

To Address Complex Problems, Shift From Careful Planning to Constant Co-Creation

What are the best ways for foundations and donors to address society’s urgent problems? In this constant debate, thought leaders at FSG—a nonprofit consulting firm specializing in strategy, evaluation, and research—have fueled discussion and practice; recently they propose that the complex nature of many social and environmental problems calls for a radically different “emergent” approach. Instead of making predictions and carefully planning strategy in advance, philanthropists must engage with diverse partners in a constant process of co-creating strategy. This involves paying close attention to how movement and change happen in a community or field, taking quick advantage of emerging opportunities, and building the capacity of the entire network of partners and actors—not just a few grantee organizations. To make this possible, philanthropists must invest more time and resources in sense-making and reflection.

According to the authors, “Active sensing takes time apart from grantmaking. To make sure that it happens, foundations can create structured time for staff to reflect on not just what is going on with their grantees, but also what is going on with the broader set of conditions affecting strategy—probing for actions or events that are causing ripples in unexpected ways due to the interdependent nature of the many players involved.”

Senior Program Director Andy Carroll writes resources, designs workshops, and facilitates seminars for funders. Andy also dedicates a significant portion of his time to managing our Leadership Initiative that defines, validates, nurtures, and celebrates the many ways philanthropists lead. Andy has 25 years of experience in nonprofit organizations, and he enjoys talking with funders about their questions, interests, passions, and plans for making a difference.