New Philosophy: If You Give, You Will Get

Posted by amy szerlong on February 18, 2009 in Uncategorized

Although asking for money in a time of financial crisis seems somewhat paradoxical, a recent article in The Boston Globe shows that there is hope in the realm of philanthropy. On Monday The Globe reported that Boston-based foundation, the Eos Foundation, is starting a trend in the area of “counter-cyclical giving.”

The Eos Foundation focuses on aiding impoverished children by aiding in their futures. Their website states that the Foundation “supports nonprofit organizations, public policies, and systematic solutions aimed at nourishing children’s bodies, nurturing their minds, and building family economic security.” This foundation is the focused of the article, due to the fact that instead of cutting back their donations during the financial crisis, they are increasing their grants.

Hedge Fund Manager of Eos, Ken Nickerson, states “If not at this time, why do we have endowments? That’s what endowments are for, that you have additional funds to dip into.” The foundation is supporting the philosophy that in this time of economic hardship, there are people who need their money more than they do, and apparently they are setting a trend. The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts reports an increase in grant making, from $100,000 to $250,000.

As we have learned in class that any money earned is a precious commodity to organizations, the most surprising statistic in the article was the following,

Associated Grant Makers expects half of its members to reduce their giving and most of the rest to maintain their grantmaking, which, given their diminished endowments, means spending more than the legally required 5 percent of assets that may follow.

It is clear from these examples that charity is increasing in times of economic hardship. Unfortunately, since none of the foundations in the article mentioned were focused on aiding arts organizations, this doesn’t necessarily solve economic troubles in all walks of life. However the example set by the Eos Foundation is clearly having an effect, and may affect fundraising efforts to come.

Buzz Schmidt, founder and chief executive of Guidestar, endorsed an increase in grantmaking in an article on his website late last year. He is quoted as saying, “Solving a problem today is less expensive than solving it tomorrow…Warehousing your money for the future makes sense only if there are no more problems to solve today and society is not going to create more philanthropic capacity in the future.”

Ultimately if this trend in philanthropy continues, fundraising efforts should get easier once economic burdens lessen. Will this philosophy encourage people to give because they’ve received? Or will simply the power of ideas, in this case the rethinking one’s capacity and inclination to give, encourage people who were helped to help these generous donations in the future? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Sources:

Sege, Irene. “Downturn Spurs Some Foundations to Give More.” The Boston Globe. 16

Feb 2009. Viewed 18 Feb 2009.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/16/downturn_s

purs_some_foundations_to_give_more/

“Eos Foundation.” The Eos Foundation Home. Viewed 18 Feb 2009.

http://www.eosfoundation.org/

1 Comment on New Philosophy: If You Give, You Will Get

By Meredith Hull on February 19, 2009 at 11:12 am

Let’s hope this trend continues! I found some information on this during research for one of my earlier trends, and it seems to make sense to me. However, I worry now that there hasn’t been enough giving early enough to save medium sized foundations… or prevent associated organizations–like the Rose–from getting sent to the chopping block.