I recently read an opinion piece in a trendy, hipster (more than a little elitist) publication about how irresponsible it is to have children. The article made an excellent case for the ecological havoc that children wreak on the environment. Babies bring diapers, cribs, bottles and a whole slew of other crap when they come into this world.  read more »

In a recent blog post, Charity Navigator highlights the Top 10 Best Practises of Savvy Donors.  This post is directed at the American donor, but the basic premise can be applied to anyone who makes charitable investments.

For more information and resources on making charitable investments click here.

Installation celebrating childhood around the world to tell the same story and confirm a universal truth: We are all connected.  This connection is where true and believable healing begins.

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I wanted to post this a few weeks ago, but I am still learning how to edit and put video into a blog - so it's a little later than expected, but the message still resonates. 

Italy has so many wonderful things to brag about: geography - the Piedmont is stunning; to the food - event in the Fast Food restaurants you can get a glass of wine; and the arts & culture scene - beyond David and the Uffizi there are free concerts and performances nightly. As someone who owns an art gallery - Gallery 213 - the amount of FREE or next to free, access to various art and cultural experiences around the country is amazing.

My first introduction to the Italian Summer Music Festival scene was in Asti at an intimate performance by Roger McGuinn formerly from the Byrds.  This is the first time I have posted a video to YouTube... Good thing I am not a film director!  read more »

I was just rereading a blog that I started a year ago when I drove across Canada.  The blog is entitled What Do We Have in Common? I wanted to re-read what I wrote because I thought there might be some elements of my journey that can be applied to the work that I am doing as a philanthropic advisor.

Photo taken outside Espanola, ON - July 2007

It seems to me, whether we are giving $1Million or $10 to charity we are modeling a certain behaviour.  Depending on how we choose to make that contribution we can engage lots of people or no-one in the action.  What I did learn from my journey was that the pursuit of happiness is at the core of Canadian kind.  That happiness is reflected in our children.  We know that we are successful by how our children turn out and that success is something that we model for them.  So, if we want our children to be charitable we have to model the actions and the processes that lead to philanthropic behaviours.

There's a quote by Carl Sagan that I have posted previously about what society would look like if we started teaching our children how to think and act like mensches (closest word I could think of was upstanding citizens) instead of bombarding them with messages on death, destruction, self-criticism and fear of the other. 

How are each of us modeling charitable behaviour, and I don't mean just giving a cheque to an agency?  Do we pass the beggar on the street without so much as an acknowledgment or do we take the time to at least smile in their direction (if we don't drop coins in the cup... a rule that I hold for my own charitable giving)?  What kind of conversation do we have with our friends and family around these issues?  Do we have those conversations?

I was out with sister Kim, and some friends last night and one woman, Andrea Silverstone the ED of Peer Support Services for Abused Women, said that she always makes sure she has change in her pocket to give to the guys who are outside her office on a daily basis.  I asked why since that was enabling a certain type of behaviour.  For her, charity isn't so much about making sure that the Drop-In Centre is functioning (though she does give to organizations like that).  Philanthropy for Andrea includes modeling behaviour for her son.  So, in addition to giving the coins to the beggar, she stops to ask how they are if there is something else she can do, she even (on occasion) acts as a referral agent for some of the shelters in the area.  When her son sees this behaviour he too will know that there is more to charity than putting coins in a cup and that he can positively influence how society will be simply by following his mother's behaviour.

Society is built upon people and their ideas.  If we all keep acting on the "ego" in us then we will be missing out on how, as a collective, we can shift the consciousness of society and bring about amazing change.

Okay - that's enough esoteric thinking for the day.  Down to practical stuff - helping people give their money away strategically!  Have a great day and thanks for reading!!!

How do you discuss philanthropy and charity in your family?  Growing up in mine the act of charity was never really discussed.  It was done, but I think there were some opportunities lost in having an open dialogue with my parents around how they donate their money. Don't get me wrong, my family is very generous with their time and their financial resources, it was just never discussed.

One of my earliest childhood memories was putting loose change in what we call a pushke (Yiddish for coin box).  Once the box was full we would take it to the community centre where the money would go to one of many Jewish charities.

As I got older, my own personal contributions to community broadened.  Supporting organizations' internal capacity is just as important to me as supporting a specific project.  As well, recognizing that my cultural community is only one part of a larger picture, my philanthropy is a representation of all the communities that I am actively engaged with.  For a complete list of the charities and organizations that I support please click here.

As I have said in pervious posts, it is important to ask questions.  Questions of the charity in which you are about to make a financial investment AND questions of you and your family as to how you want to make those donations.  In the very first post of this blog I laid out a series of questions you should be asking yourself.  Those questions were to get the ball rolling.  Below are some more that you might want to ask yourself and your family as you delve deeper in to philanthropic investing.

Your Past:

What was your fist charitable donation?  What was your first major donation (a dollar amount that you had to really think about)?

How did your family discuss charity in your house?  Was it action based?

What has been your most important charitable investment?  When did you make it?  What made it important?  Was it your most important charitable gift your largest?

How did you make your financial wealth?  Has that influenced you in how you contribute back to your community?

Societal Influencers:

As someone who has financial resources, do you think it is your responsibility to support community initiatives?

How do you leverage your charitable dollars with your family, friends and colleagues?  Do you?

Is it important to you that your contribution (whether time, money or professional expertise) be recognized publicly?

The Future:

If money were not an object, is there a project or organization you would invest in?

How do you think your charitable contributions are going to change over time?  Are you speaking with your children about how you give and learning from them how they are contributing back to society?

For more in-depth questions I suggest you refer to Scott Fithian's book, Values-Based Estate Planning. Or stay tuned - I am sure that future blog postings will add another layer of questions!

Photo Credit: Limowreck666 (flickr)

Did you know that in 2006 North American spent over $2,000 per person on entertainment and just over $1,000 per person on charitable activities?

I found this stat staggering.  I recently returned from a trip to Ethiopia, where some of the world's poorest of the poor live.  People are living on less than $1/day in hovels that we even our homeless would turn their noses up at.

Since returning something that I have been struggling with is the excess waste that we generate just from every day living.  I don't mean pollution waste (though that is shocking and can easily be applied to this piece).  I mean waste from leftover food that gets thrown out because we don't want to eat day-olds, to clothes that are from last season, to technology that has been outdated before it even leaves the store. 

I think there is a need in our communities and society to strike a balance between our needs and our wants.  I am not saying don't go to the summer blockbusters.  I am just thinking that when our social safety net is being compromised because we are making choices to spend our money on the latest and greatest instead on what makes our communities strong and vibrant.

Wow! That really sums up how I am feeling these days.  In a recent article posted by the Financial Times people can now feel good about feeding their addictions.  Okay, maybe that is a little harsh… But really, if you think about it – our TV watching habits took a philanthropic spin when American Idol launched their Africa projects a couple of years ago; and how can we ignore Oprah’s Big Give?!  Now our online gambling addictions can have a positive social impact.In Canada a large number of charities receive government funding from dollars generated at casinos.  Gambling is not a new source of revenue; what is new, is the betting on prediction markets. 
Non-Profits Place Bets on Prediction Markets, highlights an organization that allows individuals to bet on the outcomes of real-life scenarios.  Like, who will win the Democratic Nomination.  The website - Bet2Give, is tapping into the social entrepreneurship of the non-profit sector and providing donors with the opportunity to play with their money.  The winner of the bet gets to choose which charity the dollars will be invested. 

The focus of this blog is on strategic philanthropy.  I was drawn to what Bet2Give is doing because of the focused nature of the philanthropic investment once the winner has been declared.  So why aren’t more people accessing this site?  Since September only 400 people have “played” this game and of that only $1000 was generated.  What is it about this type of giving that is not attracting mass appeal of the online gambling sector? Is it because this site was created by a for-profit company that is using philanthropy to attract web-traffic?  How is this different from when a company like Target or Ford use the Oprah show (okay pay for the rights to be on Oprah) to generate traffic to their sites and stores and showrooms?  Is this not just another form of sponsorship (in a loose way)?

I pose this (among many other) question - Perhaps there is a way for donors to direct societal change through these prediction markets.  Instead of posing a question that is currently reflected in the news and can be answered in a short time (within two years), what if donors were to start asking questions of society that would lead to systemic change? 

There is a group that is sort of addressing this, and is also highlighted in the article – The Long Now Foundation.  I think we need more of these long-term think tanks that are driven from a grassroots level and that encourage the everyday donor, small business owner and general philanthropist to engage in the process of societal change.

Oprah’s Big Give is a reflection of a grassroots movement whose catalyst (or tipping point) was Oprah.  There is obviously something in the North American psyche that is not being fulfilled with today’s consumerism.  If millions of people can not only be convinced to turn on and tune in for an hour a week to watch other people give Target, Ford and Oprah’s money away, and then go and do something in their community; what is missing in our society? 

Here’s my thing with The Big Give – besides it was shameless promotion for Ford, Target and the various other companies that paid to be involved, there was no discussion on sustainability.  I understand the pay-it-forward concept – and by helping one family in need perhaps others will do the same (hence the groundswell of Random Acts of Kindness that appeared around the US and Canada).  I ask this – when you help a group of women who are living with AIDS have a nice day so that they can forget about their plight are you really impacting them or are you putting a band-aid on a situation?  What if that same contestant had actually invested those funds in supporting the AIDS hospice with funding that they could then provide ongoing quality of life programs for their clients?  Would that not have generated more “pay-it-forwardness” and ultimately helped more people?

I didn’t watch every episode of The Big Give, mostly because it irritated me over the lost opportunities on educating Oprah’s viewership on effective philanthropy and not just making people feel good by throwing a party.  This was culminated when Ford gave the car to the gentleman who was attending college to make his life better for him and his family.  Oprah’s comment was – he has to take the bus to school and work.  Well gee – I am sorry to hear that, and now we have one more gas-guzzling SUV on the road.  Would it not have been better for Ford to say, we will cover your tuition and educational expenses AND when you are done we will consider hiring you in a position with our company, or using our network of people find you a job in the field that you are studying?  Then this guy could not only be a positive role model for his 4 children, but would be a contributing member of society and break the cycle of poverty and addictions that he has been living and afford to buy his own vehicle.   

Oprah said in one of her shows that she is trying to bring to light how much we consume and how it is possible to live on less (ironic coming from her, no?).  Then she goes and gives $1Million to the best philanthropist (last I checked - philanthropy was an act benefiting society that went unrewarded) and strengthens our resolve to buy more by giving away the one item that is epitomizes American consumerism – the automobile! 

This blog post was not meant to be a diatribe against Oprah.  She is an amazing woman, I just think she had so many opportunities with this game and she missed out.  The one thing she was successful with, was getting others to look around them and see what needs to be done in their communities.  Perhaps that will translate into more long-term forward thinking action and then the Bet2Give people can join forces with Oprah’s people and really generate social capital.
Thanks for reading.  I look forward to your comments.