Tag: Philanthropy

Venice Summer Institute 2016: The economics of philanthropy

In many societies, a large fraction of the population is involved in philanthropic activities like charitable giving or volunteering, as recipients or providers. Accompanying this are significant levels of public support for such activities. Yet in spite of this, the evidence base is inadequate. For example, there is no conclusive evidence about what motivates charitable giving and engagement in philanthropic activities. Various explanations have been proposed, ranging from pure altruism and ‘warm glow’ to social pressure and signalling, but a deeper understanding of what drives people’s motives is essential to evaluate the welfare effects of philanthropic activities and, therefore, to design appropriate policies.

Likewise, for profit corporations engage more and more in philanthropy, but we know little of the drivers behind this activity. Is it a genuine concern towards stakeholders and the long-term reputation of the company? Is it an attempt to gain the favour of customers, regulators or employees and, thus, potentially consistent with profit maximization? Or is it a corporate governance issue, with executives buying photo opportunities with shareholders’ money?

Finally, the trend towards increased inequality in many developed countries has heightened tensions between the philanthropic pursuits of large and small donors. This has not only prompted a debate about whether tax relief provisions for charitable donations unduly favour higher-income donors – progressive taxation means that large donors take a more than proportional share of the public money spent on funding tax incentives for charitable contributions – but also a debate about the costs and benefits of diversity in the charitable sector and whether such diversity should be limited by imposing more restrictive criteria on charities and donations in determining their eligibility for preferential treatment under the law.

Researchers investigating the economics of philanthropy as the topics suggested in the above general framework are invited to submit their papers for presentation at the conference.
address
San Servolo
Venice
Good for:
Causes
You
Cost of event tickets:
Free
Website:
https://www.cesifo-group.de/ifoHome/events/Archive/conferences/2016/07/2016-07-1…

Creating a Hotspot for K-12 Innovation

Creating a Hotspot for K-12 Innovation

A Philanthropy Roundtable Event on Breakthrough Education Giving
Co-hosted by Donors Forum

Sofitel Chicago Water Tower • Chicago, Illinois
October 28-29, 2015

Chicago is becoming a center for big K-12 ideas and an ideal setting to discuss how donors and education entrepreneurs can create dramatic improvements for kids nationwide. Home to a new crop of personalized learning models, design incubators, and promising startups, the city also boasts emerging innovators in charter schools, policy, leadership development, and advocacy. Chicago’s forward-thinking donors, investors, and venture philanthropy funds also make the city an exciting place to discuss how funders can make a big difference by thinking outside the typical K-12 box.

Attendees had the opportunity to spend two days with hundreds of leading education philanthropists, visit inventive schools, and join high-level strategic conversations about effective K-12 giving.

Event Schedule

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

7:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Site Visits

Chicago’s Next Generation Learning Models

Attendees had the opportunity to visit leading examples of personalized learning, including Intrinsic Schools, a learning environment unlike any other school. Intrinsic is made up of interconnected “pods,” each an open studio with spaces dedicated to individual and small-group learning. Students receive personalized learning plans to monitor their academic progress, and access a school-wide blended learning tool as well as Socratic style teaching. Perhaps most astounding is that the cost of this futuristic and breathtaking space was one-fourth the cost of comparable district schools. We also visited two other exemplary models: Chavez Multicultural Academy, a district school, and Chicago International Charter School: West Belden.

7:00 a.m. Registration Opens

Sofitel Chicago Water Tower
20 East Chestnut Street
Chicago, IL 60611

7:30 a.m. Bus Departures Begin

Donors had two options for their first site visit school:

• Cesar Chavez Multicultural Academic Center

• Chicago International Charter School: West Belden

After this first site visit, both groups convened at Intrinsic
Schools and toured as one combined group.

1:00 p.m. Return to Sofitel Hotel

• Networking Luncheon

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Optional Discussions

Session #1: What’s Working to Educate High-Ability, Low-Income Students

Giuseppe Basili, director of strategic initiatives, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, professor, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University
Chester E. Finn Jr., president emeritus, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation (moderator)

Session #2: How Donors Can Make Meaningful Early Childhood Investments

Katherine Kaufmann, partner, The Bridgespan Group
Diana Rauner, president, Ounce of Prevention Fund

3:10 p.m. – 4:10 p.m. Opening Plenary

Welcome

Adam Meyerson, president, The Philanthropy Roundtable

Cultivating The Next Generation of Education Startups

Deborah Quazzo, founder and managing partner, GSV Advisors
Margaret Angell, director, education innovation portfolio, CityBridge Foundation
Alicia Herald, founder and CEO, myEDmatch
Deborah McGriff, partner, NewSchools Venture Fund (moderator)

We made a special visit to LEAP Innovations, Chicago’s nationally-recognized education innovation center that helps educators and entrepreneurs reimagine learning and develop next-generation school models. Located in 1871, Chicago’s hub for all digital startups, attendees got a rare glimpse into how talented entrepreneurs use dedicated space and resources to test ideas, validate concepts, engage technical experts, work with mentors–and ultimately turn big ideas into reality.

5:00 p.m. Opening Reception and Open House: LEAP and 1871

6:00 p.m. Big-Idea Pitches

Solving America’s Toughest K-12 Problems

Attendees had the opportunity to hear a number of solicitation-free, big-idea pitches from newly-forming education organizations, schools, and initiatives from around the country. Following brief reactions from a panel of experts, attendees were able to ask questions and offer constructive feedback.

Welcome

Jim Oliff, chairman, CME Group Foundation

Master of Ceremonies

Phyllis Lockett, CEO, LEAP Innovations

Pitches

Brian Hill, co-founder and CEO, Edovo
Gareth Genner, founder and CEO, Parish Academy
Blair Pircon, CEO, The Graide Network
Amy Charpentier, KIPP Through College director, KIPP: Delta
Ryan Hoch, co-founder, Overgrad

Expert Respondents

Barton Dassinger, principal, Chavez Multicultural Academic Center
Edith Gummer, education research director in research and policy, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Deborah Quazzo, founder and managing partner, GSV Advisors

7:00 p.m. LEAP Reception

Thursday, October 29, 2015

7:15 a.m. Breakfast Roundtable Discussions

1. How Cities Can Develop Plans for Increasing the Number of High-Quality School Seats
Butch Trusty, chief impact officer, Education Cities

2. How New Approaches to Teacher Certification Can Transform Public Education
Don Nielsen, senior fellow, Discovery Institute

3. Building a Network of Independent Schools: Lessons from 20 Years of Growth
Jane Genster, president and CEO, Cristo Rey Network

4. How Can Donors be Effective in Supporting Alternatives to “College-For-All”
Blouke Carus, chairman emeritus and chief technical advisor, Carus Corporation

5. Hope Outside the Box: How Schools can Create Unconventional Funding Streams by Serving their Communities
Bob Muzikowski, president and founder, Chicago Hope Academy

6. Bridging the Opportunity Divide Through Career Preparation
Jack Crowe, executive director, YearUp Chicago

7. How to Develop High Schoolers into Real-World Entrepreneurs
Michael Miles, co-founder, INCubatoredu

8. How Charter Schools Can Promote Character and Civic Virtue
Steve Barney, trustee, Barney Family Foundation

2016 National Forum on K-12 Philanthropy

The 2016 National Forum on K-12 Philanthropy
September 13-14, 2016
Sofitel San Francisco Bay
Redwood City, California

This year, The Philanthropy Roundtable will be convening the nation’s leading donors and practitioners in one of our country’s epicenters for education transformation, California’s Bay Area, to highlight K-12 innovation and the latest trends from Silicon Valley as the nation marks the 25th anniversary of charter schools.

September 13: Site Visits, Reception, and Special Programming
September 14: Sessions and Speakers

Co-hosted by Legacy Venture

Registration will open in March 2016. A detailed program agenda will be coming soon!

Conference Location:
Sofitel San Francisco Bay
223 Twin Dolphin Drive
Redwood City, CA 94065
(650) 598-9000

The Philanthropy Roundtable has negotiated a special room block rate of $269 per night at the Sofitel San Francisco Bay hotel. Please call (650) 598-9000 to make your reservation. Rates will be available until Tuesday, August 30, 2016, based on hotel availability. The hotel block may sell out, so please make your reservations early to ensure a room. The Sofitel San Francisco Bay is conveniently located 10 miles from the San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Complimentary shuttle transportation is provided between the airport and the hotel. Contact the hotel concierge for more information on the shuttle schedule.

This solicitation-free event is open to those who annually distribute, or intend to distribute in the near future, at least $100,000 in charitable donations. There is no fee to attend.

For more information on attendance qualifications, please click here. For additional information about the content of this program, please contact Anthony Pienta, director of K-12 programs at apienta@PhilanthropyRoundtable.org or at (202) 822-8333.

Celebrities Promote Philanthropy, Philanthropy Promotes Celebrities. Can We Say It Really Goes Both Ways?

We’ve often seen simple acts of kindness transform human lives. This calls for more than just cash, because money alone is nothing unless it’s backed with a sustainable idea and a solid plan.

Usually it doesn’t take too much investment to go visit someone lying alone in a hospital room fighting for their life. It doesn’t cost a fortune to drag that someone out of their desolation and remind them that the world can be a wonderful place. So in 2012 celebrity actor Christian Bale took 4-year-old Jayden Barber to Disneyland—diagnosed with bone cancer at that time, the little guy is now 7.
ctor Ben Affleck on the other hand chose a different, yet equally significant cause, which has every chance to prove sustainable. Five years ago he started the Eastern Congo Initiative—a foundation which continues to fight domestic violence and work towards a more developed and humanistic civil society in Eastern Congo.

You don’t have to be a star to be a role model. Just like Katie Cutler, a regular girl from UK who in just a week raised 330, 000 pounds for the new home of 67-year old Alan Barnes. Alan was born with a number of physical deficiencies, including stunted growth and visual impairment. He was attacked and mugged in front of his former house and is now afraid to return home, feeling vulnerable because of the physical limitations he’s facing. Katie found out about him on the Internet and thought she could help. The „magic“ worked through a public fundraising website promoting a range of similar money-gathering efforts.

So maybe it takes more than just cash to make for charity. It takes people who care. And anyone who cares is to us a star and a personal hero.

Door-To-Door

Charities that reach beneficiaries directly are a rising trend worldwide, especially in developed countries like the USA. What’s different about this approach? First, it’s transparent and allows you to track all the way the destination of collected money and food (just like Holiday Heroes does). Also, door-to-door charity lets you… see the truth.

It takes pushing past your comfort zone and stepping into the unheated, yet tidy home of a lonely retired person or the crammed little room of a single mother and her three children to realize the truth about where you live.
Sometimes the people we visit agree to get on camera. Sometimes the tears in their eyes seem to swell up in the eyes of our volunteers. But it’s not what counts the most.

In fact, charity is what empowers us to change the lives of the needy, the country we live in, and overcome indifference—ultimately, change who we are. Simple acts of kindness among people are neither a thing to be taught, nor an extravagant idea or an example of exceptional courage.

Simply, those more lucky in life should build a bridge of good works reaching the homes of people struggling to survive every single minute, every single day.

African Ubuntu and Its Influence on South African philanthropy

Today South Africa (SA) is considered “the second-most charitable country, behind the United States.” In the post-Apartheid era wealthy South Africans have become both “Benefactor” and “Volunteer” donors – giving time and money to charities.

The reasons philanthropists in SA give, are varied. However, a belief in the African philosophy of ‘ubuntu’ is said to underlay the need to give. A strong sense of community pervades the philosophy of ubuntu and culture of giving in SA. However, the divide between the rich and poor is also a driving force behind philanthropy in the country.

The drivers of philanthropy in SA are complex, “(t)hey go from plain guilt to wanting to uplift the economy, and knowing that the only way to get people working, participating and out of poverty, is to care for your fellow human being.”

The philosophy of ubuntu is not new to the African continent. The idea that “I am because you are and you are because I am” has existed as a collective conscience long before the Colonialists arrived with their divide and conquer ideologies. The very definition of ubuntu exudes a sense of charity and well-being which, over the years, has fostered various forms of philanthropy and giving at all levels of society.

Ubuntu is known by various names in different African countries: in Botswana it is ‘botho’; in Zimbabwe, ‘unhu’; in Malawi, ‘uMunthu’, to name only a few. Regardless of its name, most African nations abide by the spirit which ubuntu embodies and that is of humanness and humanity.

Viewing the concept of ubuntu through a philanthropic lens the picture is one of a culture that promotes communalism and interdependence. It is in SA where the philosophy of ubuntu took on its greatest challenge – Apartheid. However, it was also this ‘challenge’ which helped to resurrect the culture of ubuntu by recognizing that reconciliation was a key facet of the philosophy.

It was in 1995 that SA decided to deal with its colonial past by setting up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The idea of the TRC was to allow victims of gross human rights abuses under the Apartheid regime to tell their stories while facing their accused. Consequently, the perpetrators of the violence were offered amnesty for their crimes in return for full disclosure of the atrocities they committed. The world watched with incredulity as the public hearings unfolded: How could anyone forgive such inhumanity?

Archbishop Desmond Tutu credits the culture of ubuntu with the grace South Africans needed to forgive their abusers. The TRC was touted as a way for SA to heal old wounds and move towards its future. It is this resilience that prompted “SA and most other African countries (to) publicly (declare) the 21st century as the century for renewal and advancement of the African continent so that African countries become active and competitive players on the global stage.”

Through all of its trials, SA has definitely become “a competitive player” on the philanthropic global stage. However, there are concerns in SA that ubuntu will be commercialized, consumed and pervaded by companies and organizations looking to capitalize on its philosophy. Being conscious of this could go a long way when looking to secure donations from philanthropists in the country.