Greetings from Guatemala! This is my first time in Latin America and so far I have loved every minute!  Funny enough, the most difficult part of the trip was leaving the Calgary Airport! Picture 24 hockey bags filled with dental equipment and supplies carried by 8 dentists, hygienists, dental assistants, and other support volunteers; each bag being hand-searched.  From this point it has been smooth sailing (with the exception of the earthquake that shook me awake this morning).  read more »

It is generally understood that private foundations can give money to any project as long as that project is for charitable purposes.  As this is fairly general the opportunities abound.  Limitations arise when you start seeing yourself solely as a grant-maker.  The focus of this post is on reassessing your assets as a private foundation.  read more »

Recently there has been much discussion in the blogging and print world about Kiva.  I am not going to weigh in on this debate because it just speaks back to my earlier blogs about questions to ask before making a donation.  read more »

Just a quick post to say congratulations to this years National Philanthropy Day honourees.  The message that I got out of today's luncheon and the presentation is one of hope.  As we are climbing (slowly) out of turbulent economic times it was amazing and very HOPEFUL to hear about ways that people were stepping up to the plate and supporting our communities.

Thank you to each and every person who donates time, money and other resources to making our world a better place to live.

I gave a presentation this morning to a group of wealth managers at a large investment firm in Calgary.  It was a fairly informal conversation around what my services are and things were chugging along until I was asked, "What organizations are on your top list?"   read more »

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Charitable Giving survey that was conducted in partnership between e11even.org and Dexterity Consulting.  Congratulations to Mark Menzies, of Menzies Printers, he is the winner of the $500 Charitable Gift Card to donate to a charity of his choice through CanadaHelps.

Over 720 people were solicited to respond (not including those who came through Twitter and Facebook), and we received 87 responses from United States, Canada and Israel.  While this is by no-means a scientific representation, there were some interesting comments shared and similarities between respondents.  read more »

Lately I have been invited to several third-party fundraisers for various organizations. It got me thinking about how well the hosts of these fundraisers know about the fundraising policies and the subsequent liabilities of the organization that they are hosting for.  read more »

I started writing this piece at 7:30 this morning... and then my computer crashed... So I am trying again.  Such is the life of a technology-based society.

Each morning I start my day by reading other people's blogs and connecting with people on Twitter.  If you want to follow me I am @DexterityCon.  This morning @NicheTitans started following me.  In response, I checked out their website.  One of their recent blog posts was entitled, "How to Succeed in Life: 12 Reasons Why People Fail and are Less Successful in Life."  This posting struck me as something that I wanted to respond to, first of all because it was written in the negative, but also because there are things that we can learn from this list that can be applied to effective social capital generation and philanthropy.

In turning this around, here is how I would apply these 12 Reasons to Generating Social Capital successfully.

1. What Does Wealth Mean to You? - Defining what your wealth is goes beyond the monetary.  What value do your personal connections hold?  How do you define wealth beyond the financial?  By defining this, you are beginning your journey down the road to achieving your social vision.  It is your social vision that will be the end point for how you direct your social capital.
2. Set Your Goals - What is your vision for society?  Is it the eradication of homelessness in your community?  Is it the creation of a society that has respect for arts and culture? Define your vision so you have a solid goal that you can direct your energies.
3. Impossible vs. Improbable -Many things are impossible, few things are improbable.  If your goal is the eradication of extreme poverty in your lifetime there are some distinct steps that need to take place to achieve that goal.  It is not out of the realm of probability, especially because so many people are working towards a similar objective.  Things are only impossible if we do not have a possible solution for them.
4. Believe in Yourself 
5. Just Do It - Nike's slogan says it all.  It is your vision, so you have to act on it.
6. Create a Realistic Plan - You have your vision identified, you have made it a priority now is the time to put the ideas into action.  A strategic plan that generates social capital is one that keeps your social vision at the forefront and engages others in the journey.  Your plan should outline who else needs to be involved (human and intellectual capital), how much needs to be invested (financial, emotional and time) and which businesses, organizations and community partners should be included.
7. Follow-Through - A plan is only as good as the person who is executing it.  This is your social vision and your plan, so you have to make sure that you are following through on your actions.
8. Engaging Others - Social Capital is all about engaging others.  You generate financial, personal and emotional gain by sharing your vision with others.  You will also see greater successes by integrating other people's and organization's visions with your own. 
9. Don't Quit
10. The Business of Philanthropy - There have been several blog posts, both on this site and others about the business of philanthropy.  The charitable sector is a multi-billion dollar industry in North America and it is growing.  Any transaction that you enter with community partners has a value.  Be clear from the beginning what that value is (monetary, time or intellectual).  Treat the relationship like any other business transaction.  Your social vision is just as important (if not more so) as your business mandate.
11. The Energy from Others - We, as animals, give and receive positive and negative energy when we encounter each other and ideas.  Be open to hearing what others have to say, encourage dialogue, learn and integrate those learnings into your social vision plan. 
12. Ask the Tough Questions - Don't be afraid to seek guidance from others.  This website has several resources for you to make informed decisions around your community investments, your social vision partners and communicating those ideas with your employees and family.

Good luck and have fun!

In the latest of Advancing Philanthropy magazine, a publication of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), there is a column by Jacklyn Boice, Miachel Nilsen and John Skendall about intentional innovation in the charitable sector. 

There are three main stakeholders for charitable organizations, the employees of the organization, the volunteers of an organization and the financial investors to the organizations.  These three groups feed into a system.  This system described in a report “Intentional Innovation: How Getting More Systematic About Innovation Could Improve Philanthropy and Increase Social Impact” released by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is one that “is not afraid to fail and tests new ideas before implementing them into the whole program.”

In previous posts I have discussed the role of collaboration between agencies and how donors can act as bridges between charities.  In this piece, the role of the donor can be seen as a change agent.  These individuals, “foster innovation throughout the organization, both on specific projects and in structural ways that impact daily operations.” (Great Idea!, Advancing Philanthropy, Jan./Feb. 2009)

How are you acting as a change agent for the agencies that you donate to?  Traditional models look at how community investors can act as connectors.  Morphing this traditional role to the resources available today, specifically the evolution of social-media technologies and Web 2.0, how have you adapted your role?

The Karma & Cents winter newsletter highlighted how organizations are going to have to start clustering and collaborating more in order to survive the recession.  What role are you playing in facilitating this?  How are you encouraging the organizations that you support in moving towards each other, perhaps in unique ways?  An example that I share with client is the Storehouse 39:3:10 group in Calgary, Alberta.  Storehouse is a group of four organizations, each with unique missions, who have banded together to share workspace and some human resources.  They even have a joint fundraising professional!

In today’s non-profit marketplace, the role of the donor or community investor is not only financial – the intellectual capital that you bring to the table is critical – AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO SIT ON THE BOARD!  Organizations that foster innovation will encourage you to try and test your ideas without having to be part of the decision making leadership.  They will encourage you to take on this role, because they are the type of organization that recognizes the need for new ways of thinking, doing, trying and testing.

I look forward to hearing how you have encourage innovation within the charities that you support.