Philanthropy & Non-Profit Experts

One night last week, my husband read the book One Hen to our kids at bedtime. It’s a children’s book about a very grown-up topic: the power of banking. More specifically, the power of microfinance loans to provide opportunity for the poorest people in the world to build a business and improve their lives.

One Hen tells the story of a child in Ghana named Kojo whose community pools their money to allow each member in turn to buy something to improve their tiny businesses. The people use their purchase to increase their income and pay the funds back so the next person can borrow and the…

Hilary Clinton wrote the book and thus coined the phrase, “It Takes a Village”.

In our case, I’d argue it takes an army.

Not a military one. An army of women. A battalion of passionate mothers, daughters, and sisters, who are willing to sacrifice time, money, and energy to be crusaders of gender equity and human rights.

The time of turning a blind eye, of ignoring the headlines, or saying, “but what can I do about it?” has passed. The time for change is now.

No longer can we ignore the women raped around the world, the girls trafficked across borders for prostitution, or the unpl…

You’re so much more than money. When it comes to your ability to support causes, and ultimately bring about the world you want to see, the line item in your budget that is reserved for “donations to charity” is just the beginning of what you have to offer.

I see at least five additional categories that comprise your power to bring about positive social change.

Linking our consumer purchasing decisions with our values is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal as a community.

If you have an iphone, arm yourself to make good purchasing decisions on th…

During this time of financial turmoil, few of us are writing checks with the same frequency and the same number of zeroes as when we feel secure in our jobs and flush in our retirement accounts. But even if you can’t give money, that doesn’t mean you can’t still be charitable.

What Are Your Assets?

If philanthropy is a way of life, writing checks is actually a small part of your overall giving. Remember, you have great assets beyond the financial: your time, your talents, your networks, your enthusiasm, your help spreading the word—all these together can be more powerful that your ch…

As a child, summer was always a time to run free – free from dreaded homework assignments, washing after dinner dishes, and free from the tedious chore of layering clothes to keep warm during harsh upstate NY winters. In my 20s and 30s, summer became a time of extra hours of daylight to celebrate with cocktails/wine with friends, long runs in the park and extra dog walk time. But over the last few years, summer has meant a zap of extra energy that I could pour into my passion of supporting nonprofit organizations.

This summer seems somewhat different, however. I can’t pinpoint the exac…

I have great admiration for Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett and their recently announced effort to convince/cajole their fellow billionaires to follow their lead and pledge to give at least 50% of their wealth to charity. I was especially moved by Mr. Buffett’s letter explaining his reasoning. It speaks very directly to many of my own motivations and thinking around philanthropy….

Hello and Happy World Ocean Day!

In commemoration of Jacques Cousteau’s 100th birthday this Friday, his eldest grandson, Fabien Cousteau [fabiencousteau.org], yesterday launched a new nonprofit, Plant A Fish [plantafish.org], in New York’s Hudson River. Choosing his own “backyard” as the starting location, Fabien, along with several UA New York Harbor School students “replanted” oysters under the harbor. Diving beneath the swirling green waves, they spent at least 45 minutes managing their task and it appears only Fabien was distracted by two Horsesho…

In her passionate speech to 85 Broads members at a September 2009 power breakfast, Young Women’s Leadership Network founder and President Ann Tisch described the impetus behind creating an all-girls’ public school in the inner city: “Maybe if we offer [inner city] girls a completely different path in life, the same path that the affluent and the rich girls have, maybe we can break the cycles of teenage poverty and teenage pregnancy.” With this idea, she approached New York’s Board of Education and asked for the same facilities and personnel that any public school would receive—but for an a…