November 21, 2008
Finding Causes Where Dollars Can Make a Big Difference
Ask a group of donors how the sour economy has affected their giving, and you’ll probably hear talk about ensuring their donations have an impact. The plummeting stock market has made philanthropists all the more concerned that every dollar produce results.
Arabella Philanthropic Investment Advisors, which advises wealthy donors on their giving, has assembled a list of seven issues where philanthropic dollars can make a big difference. The group says that the causes are pressing, yet lack attention and support.
Among the causes highlighted in this year’s report, High-Impact Giving Opportunities: Philanthropy that Makes a Difference:
- Small-scale farming in Africa. When the global food crisis began, Africa was hit the hardest. Donors can help by supporting female farmers, increasing local productivity, and increasing awareness of wealthier countries’ agricultural policies, the report says.
- Youth engagement in politics and social issues. Donors can capitalize on young people’s involvement in this year’s presidential election by finding ways to engage youths in causes they already support, educating young people about how to influence public policy, and using innovative online methods that proved so effective at getting young people involved in the election.
- Supporting community colleges. Two-year colleges are critically important to educating America’s work force, says the Arabella report. Yet many community colleges are in peril, as they lack endowments and rely on dwindling support from governments. Donors can help build endowments, provide technology and other equipment, and develop relationships between corporations and community colleges.
- Ending warfare by supporting youth-athletics programs. Children play an important role in bringing warring people together, yet most efforts to end conflict focus on adults, who may already hold deeply ingrained prejudices. To fight hate, donors can bring children from different backgrounds together through athletics programs.
Other causes include neglected tropical diseases, long-term recovery after natural disasters, and a “green-collar” work force.
To download the report, visit the company’s Web site. (You may also want to read more about Arabella Advisors’ recent series of conferences on how the election could affect giving opportunities.)
What do you think of the list? Are there other causes you would suggest?
Comments
Commenting is closed for this article.
Previous: Templeton Foundation Poses 'Big Questions'
Next: Foundation Leader Defends His Approach to Philanthropy
I find the Conflict Resolution: Bridging Divides Through Youth Athletics initiative strangely out of step with the other initiatives selected. Positing that mixing Israelis and Palestinians (or other similar divided groups) on a basketball (or other sport’s) team fosters teamwork and the realization of cooperation toward a common goal is interesting; but they are now a diversely populated “Blue Team” engaged in conflict with a similarly diversely populated “Orange Team”. Where is the conflict resolution?
Team sports are built on a paramilitary model, with captains, guards, offensive and defensive sub-units, and the like. The only way that I can see how team sports bridges divides is in perpetuating the timeless diplomatic compromise of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
While it is an attractive option to engage children in something familiar to them and use it to teach a lesson about working toward the common good as a diverse team, I find it is only building better soldiers, not better diplomats.
— Gina Nov 21, 03:01 PM #
I would include providing access to arts and music expression and education as a major priority for children and youth, particulary those facing adversities and in need of additional emotional, physical and cognitive support.
— Wendy Endsley Nov 21, 07:33 PM #
I completely agree with the impact of dollars invested in small scale farming in Africa. My favorite non-profit in this area is Village Enterprise Fund, which invests $200 with a group of 5 rural, subsistence farmers to start an ag-related or other business. They have documented that the profits from these businesses substantially improve nutrition (food consumed up 32%), children enrolled in school (5 more children per business started), and savings – with a $490 increased in the value of small animals like chickens and goats – a primary form of savings in rural villages. See: www.VillageEnterpriseFund.org
— Debbie Hall Nov 21, 08:19 PM #
Arabella hit the nail on the head with its analysis of programs impacting small scale farmers and how cost-effective those investments can be. International agriculture assistance has almost completely ignored the rural, small scale farmer. World Neighbors — www.wn.org — has provided training for small scale farmers in 45 countries in the last 57 years helping more than 25 million people grow more food (in an environmentally sound way), increase income and improve nutrition and health.
— Rich Anderson Nov 22, 06:30 PM #