The Philanthropy Network Blog

In 2007, I was the Regional Director for the MidAmerica Region in the Office of Leadership Giving at MIT when my wife accepted a job at a prestigious law firm in Portland, Maine. At the time I faced a choice: leave MIT, or pitch a "telecommuting" arrangement that would allow me to continue my career at the Institute. Rather than leave what at the time was my dream job, I started working with the MIT Office of Work & Family Life, the MIT Ombudsman's office, and my supervisor, I crafted a proposal to pilot a remote work arrangement. MIT agreed to a 6-month "trial".  A decade at MIT and 13 years as a remote advancement professional later, here we are - all working remotely together. I started my trial period at MIT as a single major gifts contributor and grew my responsibilities to include regional leadership and talent management, to eventually leading all capital fundraising for MIT.nano, then the largest basic research project in MIT History. At MIT I cultiv...

I read a Forbes article recently about the demise of the Venture Capital Industry, which as you know has invested in, incubated and launched some of the most valuable products, businesses and services we enjoy and take very much for granted today.   What was most shocking about the article is that the prime reason cited for the demise of Venture capital is that the industry has become too good at raising money, and they are having problems putting $30B to productive use each year. Yes, too much money is a problem for the venture capital industry. As a non-profit professional I could not imagine a better problem to have.  The magnitude of the assets at their disposal is just short of overwhelming. $30B dollars is 10% of the entire Charitable Giving industry. Its equivalent to 90 American Cancer Societies; 50 Nature Conservancies; or 300 ACLUs. But the industry chases investment returns, different than the aims of most charitable organizations. However there may be a...