Message to Philanthropists: Get Clear, Get Real, Get Better

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At year-end, many Americans turn their thinking to charitable giving. Our society faces tremendous challenges, yet charitable dollars have contracted dramatically over the past year. Everyone is being forced to do more with less, yet even thoughtful philanthropists struggle with how to get the most bang for their buck. In a brand new Harvard Business Review article: “Galvanizing Philanthropy,” authors Susan Wolf Ditkoff and Susan Colby offer specific strategies to help philanthropists raise their game, at a time when leveraging dollars is more important than ever. Their three pronged approach:

“Since philanthropists hold the purse strings, nearly everyone has a vested interest in telling them they are doing a great job even when their approaches are flawed. Thus, the true voices of the grant recipients (and, worse, the beneficiaries) are not heard.”

Get Clear: Philanthropists need to define what success looks like by wedding what they care about (values) with evidence (what works).

Get Real: They need to pragmatically assess the resources and time required to bring about change and solicit feedback from the field.

Get Better: They need to commit to systematic improvement and regularly review their entire funding strategy in light of both outside perspectives and nonfinancial assets.

It sounds simple, but it’s not. The authors point out that it takes discipline to create lasting change, and even the most well intentioned philanthropists fall prey to subtle traps along the way. According to Susan Wolf Ditkoff, “Since philanthropists hold the purse strings, nearly everyone has a vested interest in telling them they are doing a great job even when their approaches are flawed. Thus, the true voices of the grant recipients (and, worse, the beneficiaries) are not heard.”

“In our experience, developing a clear strategy requires the humility to listen to the field, the clarity and discipline to question one's own assumptions, and the willingness to say ‘no’ to enticing options. By embracing a similar approach for getting real to get better, donors can improve their chances of maximizing their impact at a time when they are most urgently needed,” said co-author Susan J. Colby.

Other questions Colby and Ditkoff cite as paramount for philanthropists to ask themselves include:

Are the available resources sufficient to match our ambition? Who else has created innovative solutions to this problem — foundations, nonprofit groups, government, companies — and what's known about what doesn't work? How strong are the organizations already working on the cause and how much can they deliver? How capable is our foundation (our staff, our processes) to deliver? How will we know if our strategy is working?

They describe a few pioneering grant makers, including the James Irvine Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation who are “walking the walk.” These funders have worked to achieve clarity on what success looks like for their investments; they have “gotten real” about what it takes to make change happen, and they have explicitly incorporated continuous self-improvement tools to get better over time.

Susan Wolf Ditkoff and Susan J. Colby are partners at the Bridgespan Group. Their article appears in the November 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review.

To arrange an interview with Susan Wolf Ditkoff or Susan Colby, please contact Liz London at 646-562-8906 or Liz.london@bridgespan.org.

About The Bridgespan Group

Founded in 2000 and incubated at Bain & Company, the Bridgespan Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps nonprofit and philanthropic leaders to make strategic decisions and to build organizations that inspire and accelerate social change. At the heart of our mission is the belief that a strong and effective nonprofit sector can be a powerful force for change as well as a source of human inspiration.

We believe that results are driven by three levers: solid strategy; access to appropriately structured capital; and talent that begins with leaders and senior managers. We exist to apply the best relevant thinking and tools to strengthen these levers and to help organizations deliver on their missions. Our services include strategy consulting, executive search, and philanthropy advising.

The Bridgespan Group’s Bridgestar initiative seeks to help nonprofits attract, connect, and develop strong leadership teams to strengthen the overall performance of the sector.

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