Philanthropic and Political Consulting
AL Advising works with progressive philanthropists to create a portfolio of civic engagement, policy, and advocacy investments including 501c3, 501c4, candidate, and related political giving.
With support from the Case Foundation, the Millennial Impact Report has been looking at Millennials as donors and volunteers to causes since 2010. Their new report synthesizes findings of several past reports into a Top 100 facts and quotes. The findings are in-line with other research but clearly reveal Millennials preferences for giving time and money. (I was struck by #22 and #81.)
Pew is out with yet another fascinating look at changes in how we communicate via social media. Following up on their 2012 report, Mobile Messaging and Social Media 2015 includes detailed demographic information across platforms.
There are many implications here -- from allowing political campaigns to better target favorable audiences to trends among Millennials. I'm particularly impressed by the non-white usage of newer platforms like Instagram and Pinterest.
Inside Philanthropy has yet another good article out today, Five Big Myths About Techies and Philanthropy. I think the author, David Callahan, does a good job of pointing out common misconceptions about donors from the tech space. Give it a read.
My observations have been that these donors: a) like a big challenge -- "wicked problems" in philanthropy, if you will; b) are open to both traditional and disruptive giving and: c) are, as a whole, giving way under their weight.
In the wake of the earthquake in Nepal, unrest in Baltimore, and marriage equality before the Supreme Court, I feel like I'm being asked to give more and more often than ever before.
With so many organizations trying to do good, disaster response and efforts to capitalize on a political "moment" can leave a donor confused. And, sadly, there are some fraudulent efforts in the charitable world and not all organizations are created equal when it comes to ROI and impact.
Charity Navigator is an excellent resource for researching quick decisions. While it's criteria is not perfect, it rates 501c3 organizations on a variety of metrics. It's site to help victims of the Nepal earthquake, for instance, lists several dozen organizations. Many are well-known, well-funded, and consistently audited organizations that allow giving with confidence.
Other crisis, like the one currently happening in Baltimore, are harder to evaluate from a donation standpoint. There are often few organizations of scale or who have gone through significant vetting. It's tough to demand that a $300,000 per year organization spend 10% of it's budget on an annual audit. In many cases, though, these organizations are closest to the ground and best understand the needs of the community. Baltimore United for Change has a fundraising site for a coalition of community empowerment organizations responding to the current crisis and planning for long-term change. Local elected officials have said toiletries and kid-friendly food are the urgent donation needs.
So, when giving, remember that a) everything helps; b) a little research can go a long way; and c) sometimes you have to take a leap of faith with smaller organizations on the ground.
The Pew Research Center, which does tremedous work on views of politics and government, Millennials, Latinos, the internet, and other topics recenetly published a report on Teens, Social Media & Technology. Some of the findings are really interesting (Facebook is still #1 by a lot) and suprising (noticable differences in tech preferences by class -- and lower income kids are very wired). Take a look.
Bloomberg Philanthropies recently released its 2014 Annual Update. In it, Mike Bloomberg notes that, "some still see philanthropy as an alternative to government. I see it as a way to embolden government."
This captures the thinking of so many progressive philanthropists. As states and cities become more and more cash-strapped, private philanthropy is stepping in to meet basic needs. This is not a failure of government but rather a failure of government officials and politicians to provide effective resources for citizen's needs.
As Vice-President Joe Biden has said, "Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget and I will tell you what you value." Too often, we are faced with false choices on budget priorities. A multi-tiered approach is needed. Yes, philathropy can step in to meet short-term needs; it's not helpful to tell a homeless person that the city is working on building more housing when someone can pay for more beds that day. But philanthropists and activists should be encouraged to dive in to the really sexy (ha, ha) task of working with local and state officials to re-think budgets.
Let's elect candidates who will think outside of the box on often antiquated systems, like budgets. Let's embolden local community organizations to explain complex budget negotiations and their consequences to the folks who will be truly effected. And let's think bigger about how and why we give and the impact we can have.