October 24, 2008
Canadian Charity Offers Fund-Raising 'IPO'
A Canadian charity is raising money by adopting Wall Street terms, offering “shares” for $100, and giving donors share certificates and a prospectus. But is the effort simply a gimmick?
According to The Ottawa Citizen, the Toronto-based Canadian Women’s Foundation is offering an “IPO” for its new fund that will help girls develop leadership skills.
On Tactical Philanthropy, a blog written by Sean Stannard-Stockton, who works for an investment-management company in Burlingame, Calif., several people are debating the idea.
“Part of me reads about the ‘IPO certificate’ and the ‘prospectus’ and is annoyed that what appears to be a typical fund-raising effort is being dressed up as a new sort of ‘investment,’” writes Mr. Stannard-Stockton. “On the other hand I see the excitement the offer generates” and “it validates my belief that people want to give in a financially sophisticated way, but don’t know how.”
Others are more skeptical.
“My own take is that it’s old wine in new bottles (a gimmick) — and that anything can be packaged. I’m not at all sure that most charitable people want to give the kind of attention that is required of ‘investors,’” Ani Hurwitz writes on the blog.
What do you think of the so-called IPO?
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Fundraisers should be very careful here, lest a fundraising “gimmick” becomes subject to federal and state security regulations. The penalties for violating securities laws are swift and steep and there is no exception for good intentions.
— Patrick Oct 28, 06:16 PM #