Reinventing Philanthropy: A Framework for More Effective Giving

by Eric Friedman

Overview

Several years ago, Eric Friedman decided to donate a substantial percentage of his income to charity. As many people do when making a big decision, he researched the best path he should take to accomplish his goal. After speaking with foundations, consultants, and nonprofit staff members, he found that few could adequately respond to his basic questions: How should donors choose the causes they support? How can donors maximize the impact of their giving?

In Reinventing Philanthropy, Friedman shares the answers he found when exploring the world of charitable giving. What he discovered will help readers combine their business acumen with their compassion, soul-searching, and self-awareness so they can become highly effective donors. While many donors choose to direct their giving based on personal interests and passions, Friedman reinvents the best practices in philanthropic giving and demonstrates how the selection of donation recipients can be based more on maximizing a donation’s benefits to those in need. He also provides specific strategies for effective giving, including the best ways to identify high-performance nonprofit organizations and the most important criteria for selecting causes to support. Is charitable giving more about satisfying the needs of the donor or those of the recipient? The answer, according to Friedman, is both, and Reinventing Philanthropy provides the essential tools for maximizing the impact of one’s donations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612345727
Publisher:	Potomac Books
Publication date:	09/01/2013
Pages:	188
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

ERIC FRIEDMAN is an individual donor who has spent several years trying to understand how to maximize the impact of his giving, including traveling to Africa to see his giving in action. He is also an actuary. He graduated from Stanford University with majors in mathematics and economics. He lives in Oak Park, Illinois.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xv

Part I The Philosophy of Philanthropy

1 A Tale of Two Children 3

2 Failings of Philanthropy 8

3 Do-Gooders and Do-Besters 17

4 The Role of Emotional Giving 24

Part II Practical Strategies for Effective Giving

5 The Paucity of Helpful Information 39

6 Developing a Mission: Objectives and Constraints 54

7 The Most Important Decisions 69

8 Measuring Performance 81

9 Examples of Do-Besters 93

10 Choosing a Charity 105

11 Project Selection (or Deciding Not to Select Projects) 117

12 Volunteering and Other Ways of Donating Yourself 128

13 Leveraging Your Donation 140

14 Ten Smart Approaches That Work 149

Part III Final Thoughts

15 The Selfish Giver in All of Us 169

16 Philanthropy Reinvented 177

Epilogue 185

Notes 189

Selected Bibliography 201

Index 203

About the Author 206