Who am I? What am I? Far more than business, philanthropy provokes such questions. In philanthropy, the strategic merges with the personal. Values. Meaning. These are the raw materials out of which philanthropy is built. But what are those values, and what is their meaning? These are the questions we have devoted this book to, along with much of our lives. To pull such abstractions out of the hard business of philanthropy, we have come up with twenty questions and corresponding resource tools to help you explore your answers. You can answer the questions alone or with your family, although we suspect that you would come up with more honest answers alone at first. Then seek to involve others.
Click on the questions below to connect to a series of tools we have designed to help you formulate your own answers to each of the questions.
WHO AM I?
- How can I balance the competing impulses of looking good, feeling good, and doing good? When I am completely honest with myself, which one would I weight most heavily?
- Am I mission driven or market driven? Am I bent on changing the world or on flourishing?
- Who are my heroes? What would they advise me about my philanthropy at this time?
WHAT DO I WANT TO DO ABOUT IT?
- What is the extent of my edifice complex? To what degree do I wish to put up buildings and capital structures that bear my name?
- Would I rather support interesting projects or quality institutions?
- Am I a venture philanthropist? Do I want to provide risk capital for an untried program, knowing that it may fail? Or would I prefer to stick to safer projects that are more likely to succeed?
- Do I want partners? Would I rather leverage my philanthropy with them and cede control to such a partnership, or go my own way?
- How much do I want to be hands-on? Would I rather invest in organizations and people and monitor their progress from a distance, or do I want to be engaged in the operation?
- Is my philanthropy an extension of “my charity”? That is, do I want to help the neediest and most vulnerable in society? Or would I prefer there be other beneficiaries of my philanthropy?
- Do I want to be on the cutting edge of issues, approaches, and methods, despite the investment risk, or am I oriented more toward the tried and true?
- How much fun do I want to have? Do I want to see and feel the impact of my philanthropy, or is it okay to benefit society in some less tangible way?
- Would I rather have fewer initiatives with greater impact, or more initiatives that spread my philanthropy around more broadly?
HOW DO I OPERATIONALIZE THIS?
- Will I focus on my community? On the United States? Or in other countries around the world, if not the entire world?
- How will I decide between competing philanthropic interests? What are my criteria?
- How much time am I prepared to give? What help will I need? From a philanthropic professional or from an administrator? Where can I get good information to guide my grant making?
- To what degree do I want to evaluate the results of my philanthropy?
- Is this all my show? Is my spouse a partner or a sounding board? Do I want my children involved? And if so, how? As interested observers, junior partners, or full partners? Is there anyone else I’d turn to?
WHAT’S THE LEGACY I WANT TO LEAVE?
- What is my exit strategy? Do I want my philanthropy to continue in perpetuity? Through just my lifetime? Through my children’s lifetime?
- Have I thought about a personal mission statement or ethical will that I want to leave as a reflection of my search for meaning? If so, what is the gist of it? Have I written it down? Will it inform my philanthropic giving?
- What do I want said about my philanthropy in my eulogy?