There’s a long article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal (see? I’m catching up) about philanthropy and public charities, repeating the oft-heard complaint that it’s hard to know how and where to give when there’s so little information out there about the effectiveness of the programs and organizations being funded. Says author Sally Beatty: These debatesRead More
Ford Foundation Hires Toomey
According to the Future of Music Coalition newsletter, FMC founder Jenny Toomey has been hired as the next Program Officer for Media and Cultural Policy at the Ford Foundation. After making her name as a recording artist and independent label manager, Toomey founded the Future of Music Coalition in 2000 with Kristin Thomson (who isRead More
Wrap-up: SOM Philanthropy Conference (Part II)
The first half of this wrap-up is available here. Following the Funder/Grantee Relationships panel, I attended another discussion focusing on the democratization of philanthropy (i.e., bringing more and more types of donors to the funding table). The panelists were Diane Airker and Angel Fernandez-Chavero from the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, Eugene Miller fromRead More
Wrap-up: SOM Philanthropy Conference (Part I)
On November 16, 2007, I had the pleasure of attending the 3rd Annual Yale School of Management Philanthropy Conference, an ambitious event that included a total of seven panels, three guest speakers, and multiple receptions. The all-volunteer student organizing team did a great job, and I was glad to be involved as the coordinator ofRead More
Mid-semester break
Happy Turkey day, all. I’m home in Maine with my folks getting ready to gobble up some tasty food. In the next couple of weeks, I hope to post a few more installments in the “Thoughts on Philanthropy” series, as well as a wrap-up of the Yale SOM Philanthropy Conference that took place last Friday,Read More
Thoughts on Effective Philanthropy: Part III – (Dis-)Economies of Scale in the Arts
Note: This is the third of a multipart series on the arts and philanthropy. I hope these ideas are of interest and welcome suggestions and feedback. To view the rest of this series, click here. When we left off last time, I was advocating for funding agencies to adopt a spirit of experimentation in theirRead More
Not Dead Yet.
C4, the choral collective devoted to living composers that I founded in November 2005 and “facilitated” until this past June, is having its first concert since I abandoned them for New Haven. The program focuses on old pieces or composers reimagined for the 21st century. The action starts tonight at 8pm at St. Joseph’s ChurchRead More
Social Impact Investing with Sharon Oster
On Monday, November 5 (yeah, I know, I’m way behind), I attended a lecture on social impact investing with Sharon Oster, one of my econ teachers from last quarter and something of a celebrity on campus. Unfortunately, I had to miss the beginning for an Internship Fund meeting, but here’s what I learned from theRead More
Philanthropy Conference
If you’re in or around New Haven, Yale SOM’s 3rd annual Philanthropy Conference is coming up next Friday, and I’m putting together the panel called “Funder/Grantee Relationships” that will feature pairs of funders and grantee organizations talking about how the evaluation process has been shaped over time. We have a great all-local lineup for thisRead More
Thoughts on Effective Philanthropy: Part II – Philanthropy and Experimentation
Note: This is the second of a multipart series on the arts and philanthropy. I hope these ideas are of interest and welcome suggestions and feedback. To view the rest of this series, click here. When we left off last week, I noted that it’s hard to measure the effectiveness of the arts when weRead More