One of the Giving Pledge philanthropists and co-founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen, recently died. But at his death he was worth more than he was when he signed the Giving Pledge, a pledge that 186 of the wealthiest philanthropists have made to give away half of their net worth before they die. This inspired Alana […]
Individual donors
Could This Be Modern Philanthropy’s Day of Reckoning?
Something pretty interesting is happening in the world of philanthropy. Anand Giridharadas, journalist and former Aspen Institute fellow, has just written a pretty major indictment of modern philanthropy in his new book, Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. Giridharadas takes big philanthropists to task for reinforcing the social problems they claim to […]
A Brand New Social Velocity Website — Go Take a Look!
Today I’m delighted to announce the launch of a brand new Social Velocity website. I hope you will go take a look! As you know, last Fall I took a 4-month break from social media. I stopped writing the blog and checking Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and spent more time reading books, meditating and figuring out where […]
10 Great Social Innovation Reads: June & July 2017
Since I was on vacation (and off social media) for a chunk of June, I decided to combine the June and July 10 Great Reads lists into one. But that proved to be a tricky feat, since there was no shortage of activity in the world of social change during those two months. From the […]
3 Questions To Regularly Ask Your Development Director
Beyond the mistakes nonprofit leaders often make in staffing their fundraising function, the relationship itself between a nonprofit executive director and the development director (or whatever you call the staff person in charge of bringing money in the door) can often be fraught. In an ideal world, the executive director and development director have a symbiotic […]