Rethos.com - HardRockPhilanthropy's News Feed

The donor landscape of 2033 is bright

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:08:52 -0500

By Sean Stannard-Stockton

Friday Feb 29 2008 23:10

Philanthropy is undergoing a transformational shift. While most donors continue to give in the same ways they have for 100 years, the vanguard of philanthropy is busily reforming the fabric of the charitable sector.

Often referred to as the "social capital markets" and characterised by a model of giving that mirrors the financial markets, this emerging model is still in its infancy. Since you can create only that which you imagine, I thought I would take a quick trip 25 years into the future to see what philanthro...

Bottom Line for (Red)

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:49:56 -0500

By RON NIXON

KIGALI, Rwanda — A year ago, staff members at the Treatment and Research AIDS Center could barely cope. Patients, unable to find care elsewhere, flowed in from every corner of the country. And if one of them was fortunate enough to find a bed here, she often had to share it.

Today, a dozen patients, mostly women, sit in neat waiting rooms, laughing...

A New Generation, A New Commitment To Change

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:59:51 -0500

A New Generation, a New Commitment to Change By Robert Egger

Forty years ago, in the first weeks of June during the presidential election year of 1968, three things happened that changed the United States.

The first was on the morning of June 6, when America awoke to the news that Sen. Robert Kennedy had died from an assassin’s bullet in Los Angeles, just days after winning the California primary.

The devastating news that one more leader, and another Kennedy, had been killed hit America hard and made an already dark year darker still.

But th...

Understanding American Philanthropy

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:12:15 -0500

By Li Yuan

Recent statistics about the growth of Chinese wealth caught mainstream-media attention in the U.S., with both The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times gasping at the number of Chinese billionaires (106, second only to the U.S.) and the number of Chinese households with investible assets of at least $1 million (310,000, fifth after the U.S., Japan, U.K. and Germany).

But both newspapers also raised this question: What will China’s new wealthy do with their money and influence?

My colleague Robert Frank, the Journal’s Wealth Report...

Banking On The Poor: US needs social businesses too

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:45:44 -0500

Jan. 15, 2008, 8:48PM Banking on the poor Plenty of demand in the United States for ‘social businesses’ that help the poor.

The tale has barely faded over time: 42 Bangladeshi villagers freed from loan sharks and starvation with loans totaling just $27. That’s how the Grameen Bank began in 1976, followed by the continuing feat of helping 7.5 million more of the poorest around the world.

But Grameen’s founder, economist and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus, proposed a new narrative â€” this one f...

An Invaluable Infection

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 09:48:59 -0500

My New Yearâ€™s resolution is to have a better sense of well-being in 2008. Does that sound self-serving and hedonistic? Good! I invite you to adopt the same resolution. But the means by which I suggest we reach our goal may surprise you.

It wonâ€™t be by winning the lottery. Money canâ€™t promise happiness. A 1978 study found that there was no significant difference in levels of reported happiness between lottery winners and those who had not won. The same study found that accident victims who had become quadriplegic or paraplegic did not exper...

Emancipation

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 06:54:26 -0500

A key player in the end of slavery in America was a former slave himself, Frederick Douglass. In his autobiography, Douglass wrote that ignorance was like chains around the ankles of his brothers and sisters in bondage. As a child he had been taught to read by the daughter of his master. As an adult Douglass sought to establish a Sabbath school to help fellow slaves to learn to read and write. This was not looked upon favorably by the slave owners. Knowledge inspired hope, and hope bred the desire for freedom. Slaves were often punished for attempting to become literate.

Sunday...

Power To The People

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:38:45 -0500

Power To The People Slate 60’s most wealthy encourage â€˜everyday’ Americans to give

By Natalie Ghidotti There’s no doubt that the country’s wealthiest have made a difference in the philanthropic landscape. But there’s even greater assurance in the fact that if every American gave just a couple of bucks, many of the world’s greatest woes would be eliminated.

That was the overwhelming theme of this year’s Slate 60 conference in Little Rock, Ark., which celebrates the 60 individuals who made the largest charitable contributions ...

US versus Bill Gates

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:31:36 -0500

I discovered The GiveWell Blog (http://blog.givewell.net/) and accompanying web site (http://www.givewell.net/) this week. Although it appears to be targeted toward the upper crust of USA citizens – the founders are Ivy League grads (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and former hedge fund managers (or that) – the content is relevant to anyone seeking an opportunity to make a difference in the world (i.e. those of us who make up the soft, creamy filling underneath that tender crust).

If you are still of the opinion that philan...

From Ownership to Stewardship

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:58:48 -0500

June 26, 2007

This morning is my last day at Conception Abbey, a monastery in Northwest Missouri. I arrived here two days ago for the purpose of devoting serious time to writing and reading about universal philanthropy. I am sitting on an uncomfortable chair at a built-in Formica-covered desk in a small room with ugly orange carpet, pecking away on a Compaq Armada laptop purchased by my employer in 1998. I donâ€™t own any of this stuff. It is under my direction for the time being, until it is time for me to leave.

Instructions on the back of the door to my room polite...

Philanthropy Is For Everyone

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:31:59 -0500

Twenty-two years ago I stumbled into the profession of fundraising, beginning as a special events director and progressing to corporate and foundation grant-writing. In that time I have helped to secure all kinds of gifts: the most unusual being a quart of bull semen (for an agricultural college), and the most impressive being a $5 million grant from a major philanthropic organization (aka a â€œFoundationâ€).

What is it that makes a person or an organization philanthropic? Last fall I attended a national conference of the nonprofit/independent/third sector in which the preside...

One Person

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:01:16 -0500

Some friends of mine just returned from ten days in South Africa. They visited a number of villages and homes for AIDS orphans, hoping to find some way to help alleviate the severe poverty and sickness that has invaded that region of our world. I donâ€™t think any of them was prepared for the enormity of the situation. It was overwhelming.

We gathered last night to hear their stories. Several of them spoke of the sense of hopelessness they felt early on in the trip. What am I doing here? How can I make a difference? Who do I think I am?

How c...