Strategic giving: Approaching philanthropy with a different mindset

In spite of the recession and the still recovering economy, generosity remained abundant in the US. The philanthropic community has been notably active in the previous year, with about 64 million volunteers and 65 percent of households donating to a charity or a specific cause. As a whole, foundations, corporations, and individuals gave about $298 billion.

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While philanthropic work in the US continues to be a strong driving force in promoting social change, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen noted that there is still much that can be improved. Ms. Arrillaga-Andreessen, who teaches four philanthropy courses at Stanford, has made materials on studying and teaching philanthropy available online to encourage other learning institutions to start their own programs.

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Majority of the donors to philanthropic ventures are driven by emotion or a generous feeling. Therein lies a great but yet untapped potential because there are greater things that can be achieved when people take time to learn about the potential impact of their donations.

Shifting from emotion-driven giving to strategic philanthropy can empower the givers. The new generation of philanthropists is hungry for more information, and they want to know just how much impact their efforts and donations will have. In giving them the materials they need, they can go beyond being passive givers who are just hoping that their contribution will help and become effective planners and implementers of social change.

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Lessons in philanthropy

Little by little, the world is changing its views on philanthropy. It is no longer the endeavor of wealthy individuals with cash to spare. With the advancements in technology and information, philanthropy has become a challenge to every individual to contribute to causes and programs that are geared toward solving some of the various problems that the world has today.

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In order to give more power to the act of giving and to have it make more of an impact, people will have to learn about modern philanthropy. There is a need for people to know about the various aspects of philanthropic work (what works and what doesn’t) for them to be able to formulate better solutions for the many problems of the modern world.

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Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, who teaches philanthropic courses at Stanford University, has revealed in an interview that more than half of all individual philanthropists give to charity without knowing exactly how their contribution will impact the cause. She further goes to say that there is a massively untapped potential there and that results could be improved if the givers were better informed of how their generosity can be translated into something that affects the world in a more meaningful way.

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Recently, Ms. Arrillaga-Andreessen has shared her notes and syllabi on philanthropy online, in hopes that making educational material on charity easily available can spur other educational institutions to start offering their own courses on philanthropy and strategic giving.

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