Helping Impact-Driven Funders With Strategic Philanthropy [Audio]

Stanford Social Innovation Review Oct 22, 2020
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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Giving Compass' Take:

• In this podcast, Michael Voss interviews Lisa Spalding, a partner at The Philanthropic Initiative, and Stephanie Diamond of Schwab Charitable on how to donors can make difficult decisions about gifts through a strategic lens.

• What approach do you take toward strategic philanthropy? How do you feel about unrestricted vs. restricted funding?

• Read more on how to chart your strategic roadmap for philanthropy. 

Even after donors have found a cause they want to support, they still need to make strategic decisions about the type of funding they want to provide. Figuring out the objective of their philanthropy can help them evaluate restricted funds, unrestricted funds, and endowments. To more deeply understand each type of giving, SSIR Publisher Michael Voss speaks with Lisa Spalding, partner at The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI), and Stephanie Diamond, managing director of Charitable Planning Strategies at Schwab Charitable. The full transcript of the episode can be read below.

So you’re a thoughtful impact-focused donor, and you’ve done your homework and identified some nonprofits that you would like to support.  But deciding what type of gift to make can sometimes be as challenging as knowing what cause to fund in the first place. Restricted gifts, unrestricted gifts, endowments, what are the differences and what are the benefits of each type of gift? How can you ensure that your giving is helping to accomplish your overall philanthropic goals, your purpose for philanthropy as it were.

Joining me today to help answer these questions are two speakers with extensive experience serving the donor community. Lisa Spalding is a partner at The Philanthropic Initiative or TPI, and works with clients to increase the impact of their giving through strategic planning, facilitation, in-depth issue research, and design and evaluation of philanthropic strategies and initiatives. Lisa is a seasoned facilitator and convener, having led retreats and trainings for a wide range of foundations and families across the country, focused on planning, succession, governance, and evaluation. She conducts trainings and workshops on engaging the next generation, the power of family philanthropy, finding a focus and exploring your legacy. Lisa also partners with professional advisors to help their clients to reflect on how strategic philanthropy can play a greater role in their lives.

Read the full article about achieving impactful philanthropy at Stanford Social Innovation Review.

If you are looking for more articles and resources for Family Philanthropy, take a look at these Giving Compass selections related to impact giving and Family Philanthropy.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    How Do You Sunset Your Foundation?

    Giving Compass' Take: • Fran Sykes explains how, after deciding to sunset, Pascale Sykes Foundation went about spending down in accordance with their values.  • Is sunsetting the right option for your family foundation?  • Find out why Fran Sykes decided to sunset Pascale Sykes. The first step in the journey, after funding the foundation, was to establish an ad hoc workgroup of representatives from New Jersey nonprofits and faith-based organizations, and researchers and government officials. We had a definite goal: To establish a 10-year spend-down plan in line with our mission to promote the integrity, independence, and well-being of working low-income intergenerational families. The workgroup recognized that to promote systemic change, we needed to catalyze and nurture a change in mindset. We believe the social services system, focused currently on individuals’ specific problems, would be more effective if focused on families and caregivers. Since financial security, housing security, healthy relations, physical well-being, and other factors are interrelated, both children and adults would more likely prosper if all were addressed in line with their family’s priorities. Accordingly, our goal became to make the Whole Family Approach, focused on working low-income families, accepted as part of our American culture and social service delivery system. We decided to begin the work in rural southern New Jersey. I quickly realized that I could not handle this effectively alone, so the foundation began to contract with individuals and companies. We were forced to grow to meet the ad hoc workgroup’s goals. Read the full article about sunseting a foundation by Fran Sykes at Exponent Philanthropy.

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If you are looking for opportunities to take action and give money to Family Philanthropy, here are some Giving Funds, Charitable Organizations and Projects aggregated by Giving Compass where you can take immediate action.

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