Golden Age of Philanthropy Articles

There was a fantastic section in the New York Times Magazine (free registration) this weekend on philanthropy. I recommend making time to read What Makes People Give? - where Freakonomics meets charity - and For Good, Measure.

As the economy continues to slip and slide, I noticed a positive message from the latter article:

"...many billions of dollars, earned during the recent boom in the hedge-fund
and private-equity markets, will soon pour into the social sector. At a moment
of widespread economic distress, philanthropy is a growth industry, its golden
age, at least in terms of dollars spent, almost certainly yet to come."

Let's hope this forecast is mirrored this side of the pond...

The future is now?

A very interesting article in the US Financial Times - Sean Stannard-Scott looking forward to 2033, where "social stock exchanges" help donors find charities that they are interested in.

"While the cost to non-profits of conforming to the exchanges' information
disclosure requirements is steep, once listed they find grant dollars come
looking for them rather than the other way round."

The Big Give may not quite mirror the financial stock exchanges, but we do believe in a system that helps donors intelligently search for their ideal charity. We are also working hard to ensure that the cost of entry for charities is anything but steep.