The Philanthropy Network Blog

When David and Jennifer Risher announced their decision to launch The #HalfmyDAF movement, I was immediately compelled to reach out to them to say thank you (and politely suggest that they didn't go far enough!).  Even without going The Full Monty , to me the Rishers and the #HalfmyDAF movement is the best thing to happen to philanthropy since on-line giving.   First, some context: The Donor Advised Fund was designed for donors who, for timing purposes, needed to make a tax-advantaged donation, but essentially did not know where to give the money and did not have a private foundation.  It has existed in some form since the 1930s, and over the ensuing decades, favorable legislation designed to prevent the proliferation of administratively expensive private foundations (which can be tracked via this handy dandy PDF at the Council of Foundations ) lead to the creation of the DAF, which by 2019 was the fastest-growing charitable vehicle in the US - an unintended consequ...

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...

That's no moon. It's a space station. -Obi-wan Kenobi OK so you're about 14 days into your involuntary mobile worklife. If you're lucky, you've created a reasonably sound, functional work routine, connected with your staff, colleagues, bosses and friends, upgraded your at-home tech footprint, and found some continuity in terms of your own productivity. You have a strong sense of what to do when you start your day, a predictable re-entry plan for the end, and in between - well, you're figuring it out. Moreover, if you're like me, you're also grappling with the likely long-term reality of your kids on some distance learning platforms (mine are learning on BlueJeans, SplashMath, Duolingo, and Google Docs), a spouse or partner at home with you (my wife, a law partner, is working from an adjacent space), and your usually calm pets confined with the family, absorbing the stress in the house, feeling needy, and reacting to new family routines. So over...

Wondering how your organization can raise resources during this time of enormous uncertainty?  The answer might lie in the $121B Donor Advised Fund industry. For the uninitiated, Donor Advised Funds are monies donated by individuals for a specific tax benefit in a specific year, but instead of going to support the non-profit sector, those funds are managed by (and generate fees for) financial institutions for the future benefit of qualified charities. For those in the philanthropy industry, it has been long argued that DAFs are some of the most unproductive assets in our society – anywhere. In times of massive social disruption – like oh I don’t know, a pandemic – we should invite reflection about why these vehicles exist in the first place. $121B would do amazing work for the non-profit sector, guaranteeing ongoing services and support for teachers, nurses, conservation workers, homeless advocates, and the like – not to mention lightening the extraordinary mental load broug...

Welcome to the hustle. -Robin Arzon So suddenly you're a mobile philanthropy professional. Welcome to the club! For some of you this might be a finite journey, a month or two of rocking the virtual workplace. For others, as I've experienced over the past 15 years, mobile work could become the most exhilarating and fulfilling chapter of your life and career. Either way, week one can feel a bit like walking into a waterpark wearing jeans and a sweater. You're nervous and a little excited, but you're not exactly able to get the most out of the experience. Plus you may feel weird being at a waterpark in the first place, “out of sight” of your boss and colleagues. But don't pack up your gear and bolt just yet, it's just that you need to lock down the basics. Let me explain. First things first: Time for a quick tech assessment. It's nearly impossible to be effective in a mobile environment without reliable, accessible, and most importantly, dedicated t...

Today's COVID-19 epidemic offers nearly every worker in the philanthropy industry the chance to glimpse life as a mobile professional, experience increased workplace satisfaction and productivity, and engage with modern and inexpensive mobile technologies. Then there is the pure joy of not commuting to work, of never looking for parking, of never having countless interruptions during the work day (not to mention the benefits of avoiding The Vending Machine...p.s. when the hell did they start taking credit cards!). And for supervisors, it means no more tackling microissues of personal space in the office, administrivia related to who has the bigger window, or the newer desk chair. A frustration reduction smorgasbord. And after 14 years as a "mobile fundraiser" I've concluded that productivity is almost always enhanced - sometimes orders of magnitudes enhanced - when working, developing and supporting a culture of mobile work. My experience as a veritable remote-wo...

People often ask me, how do you create a better experience for major donors? What first I think it's important to define what you see as a major donation within your organization, and develop protocols to recognize and acknowledge donors who make gifts at that level. And once the donor does make a gift at that level, continue to acknowledge every donation they make your organization as if they've made a major donation. It's also important to create communities around major gifts, that could include the donors to a specific building getting together on regular anniversaries to celebrate the accomplishments of the facility, donors to endowments supporting a specific area getting together to celebrate the recipients of that support, or Donors to unrestricted receiving regular updates on major challenges facing the Institution - some which may or may not be front-page news. This level of intimacy is critical in order for donors feel part of something larger, more than just a ...