Modern Philanthropy Adapts to Make a Real Difference

Over the years, the world of philanthropy has drastically changed. Through trial and error, we’ve come to a point where we can begin leveraging new ways to engage with local populations and improve recruitment via 21st century tools like social media. We are entering a golden age; a crucial time in the philanthropy industry when the sick, hungry, and poor are benefiting like never before. These strides would not have been possible without people like Bill and Melinda Gates, and the new generation philanthropists they inspire.

With a new generation comes vigor and a fresh perspective on the age-old problem of how to solve the world’s issues with limited resources. Successors to the likes of Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Nobel, modern philanthropists have been able to expand their reach as rapidly as economies in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Business leaders have been encouraged, and to some degree, persuaded by peers, to use their wealth for good. They have established numerous foundations in underrepresented or impoverished areas. Often, the primary motivation for this action is good press and an improved reputation among consumers. Philanthropy can actually be very good business.

Individuals like Mo Ibrahim and Tony Elumelu have been able to provide necessary local context to the needs and sensibilities of smaller constituencies. For example, the Ibrahim Foundation has shed light on African governance and development through four key initiatives: the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), Ibrahim Forum, Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, and the Ibrahim Leadership Fellowship. Centering conversation on African leadership improves governing process and overall leadership quality.

Along the same lines, the Gates Foundation has set the precedent for what a stable, ethical, and effective philanthropic endeavor entails. Bill and Melinda Gates have built an organization that “works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives” in developing countries. With multiple teams based in Washington D.C., London, the Middle East, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, New Delhi, and more, the Gates Foundation has been able to tackle world issues pertaining to Malaria, HIV, Agricultural Development, Nutrition, and much more.

While many wealthy business and thought leaders continue to keep their philanthropic efforts private, we’ve see a strong upward trend of bigger donations, better strategy, and more empathy. Adapting to the modern context of social issues will require continued and focused efforts, but leaders in philanthropy are already well on their way to setting the right example. The next generation of philanthropist will surely lead the way.

Give the Gift of Giving in 3 Simple Steps

Of all the corporate values that ACE Clinics holds dear, the importance of developing and preparing the next generation is among the most treasured. Teaching young people the importance and inherent joy of sharing and giving is a universal duty of caregivers and providers in all their forms. However, finding time to instill those kind of principles in modern youth can be a serious challenge in such a fast-paced and distraction-filled world. The fact remains though that every child should learn to embrace the value of giving, and it simply is never too early to start. In fact, teaching young people about philanthropy makes for an positive and fun endeavor for the whole family. There are many ways to get started.

Open Up with a Talk

The best place to start with your young child is simply an open and kind chat. Talk about the philanthropic passions which excite you most and speak to them in a positive way that clearly models the kind of enthusiasm and emotional investment you hope to see your son or daughter adopt. Explain which causes you choose to support and how you put that support into action. Positive energy is contagious, and it should not surprise you if your child is soon barraging your with clarifying questions and offers to help. If you personally care very much about an issue like poverty, hands-on giving is a wonderful place to begin. When you are collecting the belonging which you plan to donate, invite your child to choose the toys or clothes he or she would be happy to give away to another young person who very much needs them. It is a perfect opportunity to speak about both the importance and rewards of charity.

Hear Them Out

When your child grows, a natural part of that development involves moving away from the singular desire to imitate and please you towards exploring and embracing their own unique set of interests. Encourage this process by nudging the young members of your family to think about what charitable causes speak most directly to what they care about. You might find yourself surprised!

Work Together

As the younger generations are culturally different, they may have perspectives, insights, or strengths which only serve to improve on your family is able to engage in philanthropy as aunit. For example, many kids today grow up using technology like social media, which can facilitate a much more direct level of access to organizations that are active in the cause with which your child wants to get involved. Find out what sort of causes are important to every family member, find and agree upon a common goal, and then set up a plan to work towards it together. Give everyone their own task so it is clear how your whole family will do their part to be a giver.

Transforming Charity: How Companies Are Trading Simple Gifts for Real Results

The importance of giving is an immutable reality. Beyond any sense of moral obligation, building strong communities and good public perception of your organization just makes sense. However, the way that companies choose to give money to charities is currently undergoing some transformational changes on a large scale. Businesses are beginning to embrace the fact that it is simply not enough to give. The goal of giving, some sort of result or metric of success, needs to be brought to the forefront and elevated in importance. Traditionally, corporate social responsibility (CSR) was defined by the willingness to donate. Today, more industry leaders understand that great CSR is less concerned with self-congratulatory patterns and should focus exclusively on making a difference. This shift in thinking is already impacting how companies donate.

Attach Strings and Be Willing to Pull Them

Blindly donating money to a cause may be motivated by the purest intentions, but it leaves very little room for oversight or accountability. Rather than conceptualizing donations as throwing money at a social problem, companies are beginning to prefer philanthropy as a partnership. When supporting a charity, identify one major objective that can be realistically achieved in a pre-determined amount of time. Allocate all resources to reaching this goal on a diminishing basis, with the understanding the charity should need less the closer it moves towards success. This partnership model should motivate everyone to stay invested, financially and otherwise, to work efficiently and effectively. The standard question in business is how to get the most value out of the smallest investment. The same framework can be applied to social improvement. The more intelligently and conservatively we solve one problem, the more resources we have available to allocate to another.

Invest in Change, Not Charity

Social enterprises and even other businesses can sometimes be much more successful at getting results than traditional charities. Depending on the issue at hand, be able to accurately weigh the strengths and weaknesses of all the organizations, nonprofit and otherwise, tackling the problem. Give charitable dollars to the people who are doing the best work, regardless of what sector they operate in. Charities do not have any kind of monopoly on social change. In this day and age, there is little respect for doing things the way they have always been done for no good reason. Both modern business and contemporary society champion the power of innovation. Be willing to think outside of the box to make the world a better place.

Why We Fall in Love with Philanthropy: Three Tips To Encourage Charitable Behavior

Regardless of your workplace, certain buzzwords seem to be completely unavoidable. Empty phrases and ambiguous idioms like “think outside the box,” “pick your brain,” and “synergy” permeate office conversation everywhere. However, there is one business buzzword that is not only incredibly meaningful, but also increasingly important – corporate social responsibility.
Corporate social responsibility or CSR is a form of policy that involves self-regulation in terms of a company’s impact in the world beyond the black-and-white mechanism of demand-supply economics. This mindset, that a for-profit organization exists to do more than just make money, should be at the heart of every firm, regardless of its field. The good news is that this exact concept is, in fact, more mainstream than ever before.

Advanced Cognitive Enhancement (ACE) Clinics has embraced the value of giving back to the community from the start. The very services we provide are overtly geared to improving the lives of our patients. It is only logical that this commitment to making positive impacts on our clients extend to the way we behave as an organization. There are a number of reasons that you too, as an individual or as an entrepreneur, should want to do the same. Business donate for a variety of reasons, but the biggest one is that it just makes sense. It enjoys sustainable success, a company should do what it can to ensure its community is also successful. People, specifically, have a larger variety of excellent reasons to donate time or money to good causes. Here are three critical things to remember when encouraging your patrons, friends, or family members to give back.

Give from the Heart

Humans are an emotional species. That is not to say we cannot also be thoroughly intellectual and logical in many scenarios. However, time and again you will find that the heart, not the head, inspires the most dramatic and immediate action. Every nonprofit has a responsibility to prove its expert stewardship of donated money and management of volunteers’ time, but there needs to be more than just numbers to the story. An emotional appeal is often the most impactful. To encourage selfless behavior, like donations, you need to provide ample context. It is not enough to simply outline how giving to your cause will benefit the cause – you need to give people a reason to feel amazing about doings so.

Giving Is Intimate

Because the largest benefit of behaving charitably is so emotional, it is also a deeply personal act. The donor should be at the center of every conversation about encouraging a philanthropic endeavor. Explicitly, the obvious focus should be on the ways in which someone’s time or money will benefit a given cause. However, the reason the person in a position to help should care and why he or she should feel good about doing so needs to also be clearly evident. Giving back can be empowering, in that it illustrates how we have the capacity to change the world for the better. It can also be beneficial in terms of networking or establishing someone as a community stakeholder who leads by example. Especially for a company’s leadership, philanthropy is an excellent way incorporate personal values into your workplace.

Give Immediately

One of the more unique attributes of charitable behavior is that, in many ways, its benefit is sudden. Emotional states are fleeting, so if you have clients or staff members willing to give, they need the opportunity to do so immediately. Any conversation regarding the value of giving to a specific cause or charity needs to conclude with a tangible call to action and avenue to actually do something. In this modern era of constant external stimuli, it can be easy to lose someone’s attention or emotional investment, so when you have the chance to convert someone’s support into tangible activity, you need to capitalize on it.

Regardless of your where you work or how you spend your personal time, there is something you can do to make the world a better place. Encouraging the people around you to do the same is a great privilege. Remember these three tips for how to guide people to take charitable action and your community will surely be better off for it.