[p2p-research] What is Tactical Philanthropy? | Tactical Philanthropy (& Imagine)

Sun Sep 20 18:23:53 CEST 2009

Bring it on Paul ... my wallet is ready <g>

On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 2:15 AM, Paul D. Fernhout <
pdfernhout at kurtz-fernhout.com> wrote:

> This term "tactical philanthropy" came up in a CSMonitor article I linkd to
> about a week ago. Here is more on that idea, which may suggest approaches
> those interesting in improving community infrastructure in a p2p way.
>
> From:
>  "What is Tactical Philanthropy?"
>
> http://tacticalphilanthropy.com/philosophy-and-perspectives-top/what-is-tactical-philanthropy
> """
>  “Tactical philanthropy” is a phrase coined by our founder Sean
> Stannard-Stockton in 2006 in the book Mapping the New World of American
> Philanthropy.
>  “Tactical philanthropy is an approach to philanthropy that positions
> donors as suppliers of support to agents of social impact. Support generally
> refers to provision of capital through grants and social investments, but
> also includes nonfinancial support. A tactical philanthropist expresses his
> or her interests through supporting a portfolio of organizations that are
> effectively producing social impact in areas about which the donor is
> passionate.”
>  Tactical philanthropists are people who view their giving as a way to
> invest in organizations that are making a positive difference in the world.
>  Philanthropy is not always practiced this way. Strategic philanthropy is
> an approach that positions donors as problem-solvers. While we all want to
> figure out solutions to the world’s problems, at Tactical Philanthropy
> Advisors we focus on helping our clients find and support great
> organizations that are good problem solvers. We believe it is often the
> nonprofit management teams – those with decades of experience in their
> chosen fields – that are best positioned to figure out what works.
>  If you are looking for a consultant who can help you figure out the best
> way to keep kids in school, for example, we’re not the right advisor for
> you. But if you care about keeping kids in school and want to support a
> portfolio of outstanding nonprofit organizations that are deploying various
> programs to keep kids in school, we’re a great fit.
>  We believe philanthropists have many tools at their disposal, aside from
> grantmaking: advocacy, funding media projects, and convening important
> stakeholders are all examples of important roles philanthropists can play.
> We can help you deploy these various tactics, but we do not claim expertise
> as social science researchers.
>  Just as great for-profit investing is mostly about designing a solid
> financial plan and then building a portfolio that reflects ones goals,
> Tactical Philanthropy is about designing a great philanthropic plan and then
> building a portfolio of grantees that is aligned with your values. If you
> are looking for social science research consultants, we are not the firm for
> you. If you are looking for an advisor who can help you build a personalized
> approach to your giving and bring innovation, effectiveness and joy to your
> philanthropy, we’d love to help you.
> """
>
> A related item linked from Sean Stannard-Stockton's twitter page:
>  "Why Seth Godin Is Wrong (Updated)"
>  http://causewired.com/2009/09/15/why-seth-godin-is-wrong/
> """
> Online marketing guru Seth Godin takes aim at nonprofits in a widely-quoted
> blog post “The problem with non” today, a diatribe of sorts that repeats a
> meme that’s been active in American philanthropy circles for at least a
> decade: nonprofits are afraid of change. ... Undoubtedly, control and
> bureaucracy can be big problems with nonprofits, large and small. But does
> anyone now living believe that the most philanthropic nation in the history
> of the world should devolve its nonprofit and service sector into a
> crowd-sourced cyberlibertarian throw of the dice at utopia? Yes, $300
> billion annually is less than 2% of GDP – but it’s a vital 2% for those who
> rely on the services and support that nonprofits provide. I don’t – and I
> preach digital change to nonprofits every day. Change ain’t easy when the
> world keeps moving and you have the keep the lights on – ask the President.
> """
>
> Anyway, lots of issues there raised from different perspectives about the
> way non-profits and new media are interacting. Of course, some here might
> like a "crowd-sourced cyberlibertarian throw of the dice at utopia" funded
> to the tune of US$300 billion a year. :-) And I'm all for turning over the
> money for compulsory schooling directly to parents to help promote aspects
> of that. :-)
>
> http://www.pdfernhout.net/towards-a-post-scarcity-new-york-state-of-mind.html
>
> But, in any case, interesting things to think about whatever parts one
> agrees with. In general, this shows how a conversation is going on right now
> about p2p-related issues in the non-profit realm.
>
> By the way, also from the CSMonitor, from this week:
>
> http://features.csmonitor.com/economyrebuild/2009/09/15/economic-scene-afghanistan-will-cost-us-more-than-iraq/
> """
> For the first time, the war in Afghanistan in the next budget year will
> cost Americans more than the war in Iraq. By the end of the next fiscal
> year, which starts Oct. 1, the total military budget costs for both wars
> will have exceeded $1 trillion. That’s more than the cost of the Vietnam
> War, adjusting for inflation, or any other US war except World War II ($3.2
> trillion in 2007 dollars). A trillion dollars is hard to imagine. Think of
> it this way: If you had an expense account good for $1 million a day, it
> would take 2,935 years to spend $1.071 trillion, which is the actual
> estimate for the wars’ price tag by Travis Sharp of the Center for Arms
> Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington. He reckons the two conflicts
> will have cost the typical American family of four roughly $13,000 by next
> year. ... Costs and utilization of healthcare and other veterans’ benefits
> are running about 30 percent higher than she and coauthor Joseph Stiglitz, a
> Columbia University Nobel Prize economist, estimated in their 2008 New York
> Times bestseller, “The Three Trillion Dollar War.” Adding in some social
> costs (such as families caring for the disabled and a diminished labor
> force), the two economists put a “moderate-realistic” price tag on the two
> wars of $5 trillion.
> """
>
> Imagine for one moment that after 9/11/200 (or 9/11/1973) the USA had been
> able to look itself in the mirror, and had decided to spend US$5 trillion of
> the money to be incurred on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in a different
> way, to promote mutual security and prosperity globally. (And some people at
> the time did say the war costs would be in that neighborhood, not a
> "cakewalk".) So, imagine the USA picked, say, our Michel Bauwens to spend
> the money globally for building a new sustainable society with a central
> theme of p2p. :-) And imagine President Bush had told Michel to spend that
> money all in thirty years. I'd suggest Michel (or anyone) would have been
> hard pressed by the relentless pace of needing to come up with a place to
> spend US$500 million dollars each and every day on p2p for thirty years. :-)
> I'm sure he would try though. :-)
>
> And every day on this list, for thirty years, we could nag him, day in, day
> out, "Michel, have you spent that US$500 million today? No? Get back to
> work!" :-)
>
> I suggest Michel, like anybody, might collapse under the strain. :-( He
> might then decide, every day, for thirty years, to just pick a thousand
> names out of a telephone book, give them each half a million US dollars and
> a printed flier on p2p, and hope for the best. :-) In one year, that would
> be 365,000 people that Michel had given MacArthur Foundation level P2P
> "Genius Awards" to -- just random people off the street even. Just out of
> hope a few might do good things. :-)
>
> It's even been outlined on TV in the 1950s:
>  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Millionaire
> "The Millionaire is a television drama anthology series that aired on CBS
> from January 19, 1955 to June 8, 1960, originally sponsored by
> Colgate-Palmolive.. The series explored the ways unexpected wealth changed
> life for better or for worse. The show became a five-season hit, thanks in
> large part to a twist that also made it a bit of a cult classic in the years
> that followed its life in the so-called "Golden Era" of U.S. television. The
> show centered around the stories of unknown people who were given, seemingly
> out of nowhere, one million dollars from a benefactor who insisted they
> never know him – with one memorable exception."
>
> And, for all that money spent differently, there would be more that four
> thousand US families who would still have their loved one alive, and more
> than 30,000 US families that would still have their loved one physically
> whole, and more than probably 300,000 US families that would still have
> their loved one mentally whole, and maybe millions of Iraqi families that
> would still have their loved ones and still be living in their homes.
>  http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties.htm
> I'd suggest, overall, we'd even all be much better off, even if Michel just
> burned the money every day, out of desperation.
>
> Anyway, we can try to imagine it, and it is not that unrealistic, because,
> the USA also just spent trillions on a bailout, and no doubt it could afford
> to spend trillions for self-renewal, even now.
>
> And foundations have tens of trillions of US dollars coming in over the
> next few decades to spend on good works. A flow into foundations of US$55
> trillion is expected over the next 25 years according to this:
>  "Is Open Source the Answer To Giving?"
>  http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/20/1313223
>
> All they have to do is start sending Michel checks for US$500 million every
> day. :-) I'm sure he'd be willing to try to to keep up with the torrent for
> a while. :-) Kind of like playing "SimCity" with the "cheat" amount of
> money. :-)
>
> And, if Michel decided to take a year-and-a-half sabbatical, he could fund
> this with the money he'd otherwise have to spend during that time:
>  "A Solar Grand Plan"
>  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-solar-grand-plan
> "A massive switch from coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power plants to
> solar power plants could supply 69 percent of the U.S.’s electricity and 35
> percent of its total energy by 2050. ... But $420 billion in subsidies from
> 2011 to 2050 would be required to fund the infrastructure and make it
> cost-competitive. ..."
>
> Anyway, if there is one good thing to come out of the wars the US launched
> in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is to show that all our global problems stem
> more from ideology and a lack of imagination, than from a lack of resources
> (financial or otherwise).
>
> Or, humorously, this is a simulation of the leadership we need: :-)
>  "President George W. Bush singing John Lennon's Imagine"
>  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOEhQXUS_ws&NR=1
>
> The original version:
>  "John Lennon - Imagine"
>  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GAHFrLAxzM
>
> So, anyway, we might hope to see more "tactical philanthropy" in a p2p
> direction in the future. :-) It's not that hard to imagine. :-)
>
> --Paul Fernhout
> http://www.pdfernhout.net/
>
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