Dear Members and Friends,

Arts & Culture: Sue Troxell & Emily Biscardi

Seven Paradigms of Collective Giving
 

Maddie the miniature schnauzer, the Japanese martial art of aikido and American Girl Dolls - all are topics Peter Frumkin wove into his entertaining and thought-provoking talk at Impact100's Winter Education Event, hosted by Morgan Lewis & Bockius on Tuesday, January 15. Frumkin, the newly appointed Faculty Director for the Center of High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke on collective giving and encouraged Impact100 members to reflect on both our values (as a group) and our value (in the community).

 

Frumkin started the presentation by highlighting the difference between giving to  fulfill private values versus addressing a public need, sharing that, in his view, the most powerful philanthropy is a combination of the two. Recognizing that in a group it can be difficult to clarify values, he encouraged members to "confront the values" rather than focusing solely on our grant-making process.

 

After outlining our "competition" in the marketplace (community foundations, federated funders such as the United Way, charitable gift funds, private foundations and direct giving), Frumkin laid out his seven paradigms, asking members to consider the value of Impact100 and other collective giving organizations. He suggested seven possible answers:

1. Achieving greater impact - Members give a relatively small donation but participate in making a significant social impact in the community.
2. Practicing the craft of grant-making - Members have opportunities for education around proposal review, non-profit financials, site visits and evaluation. Members also learn how to say "no."
3. Learning the issues - Members have the opportunity for an in-depth policy education from our grantees, experts in their fields with creative answers to social problems.
4. Building social capital - Members have the chance to bond with other women in the organization.
5. Catalyzing individual giving - Impact100 encourages philanthropy; as members become more sophisticated philanthropists they often give more money to more organizations.
6. Sharing skills through engagement - Impact100 allows members to see philanthropy as more than just a money transfer and encourages members to share talents by volunteering or offering other expertise to grantees.
7. Focusing community attention - Many Impact100 grantees report increased awareness in both the funding community and broader community due to press exposure from Impact100 grants.

Peter Frumkin with new member Joan Waters.

After his presentation, Frumkin facilitated a lively discussion among members and guests. Dawn George suggested that an additional paradigm for Impact100 specifically is its gender-based identity that has and does shape both our values and our process. Jacquie Stern noted that along with bonding between members, Impact100 strives to work with our grantees as community partners, offering additional networking and community bridging opportunities. The discussion also turned to long-term evaluation of Impact100's effectiveness, especially now that the organization is in its fifth grant cycle. Frumkin admitted that he hadn't seen any other groups nationally evaluating themselves well in this regard and encouraged Impact100 to lead the way. Many members expressed interest in following up, so stay tuned.