Philanthropy Conference
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On November 16, the Yale School of Management Net Impact Club presented the third annual Philanthropy Conference. Conference co-chairs, Seanne Hanke and Sheryl Linsky, both of the class of 2009, did an admirable job of organizing this year’s conference, which attracted an audience of approximately 80 students and professionals.
Dean Podolny kicked off the day with remarks that firmly established the tie between the conference and SOM’s mission to educate leaders for business and society.
Opening speaker Courtney Bourns from Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) introduced discussion on the conference theme, “Achieving Effectiveness in Philanthropy.†While it is normally the role of funders to demand more accountability from grantees, GEO analyzes how funders themselves can change their practices and evaluate themselves to better support the effectiveness of their grantees and thus to enable more positive change. Ms. Bourns description of GEO’s findings was a fitting start to the day of thought-provoking discussion.
Seven panels covered topics such as innovative models for philanthropy, funder/grantee relationships, and measuring impact. SOM alumni played prominent roles. Tim Walter, SOM’90, and Renee Jacob, SOM’00, were featured panelists, while Nancy Raybin, SOM’79, Michela English, SOM’79, and Cheryl Casciani, SOM’88, ably moderated.
The theme of democratization of philanthropy, discussed in one of the morning panels, was picked up by the keynote speaker, Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org and Yale College Class of 1998 alumnus. DonorsChoose.org is an online nonprofit that allows people to donate directly toward the purchase of classroom materials needed by public school teachers. Mr. Best described DonorsChoose.org successful attempts to harness the power of the Internet to raise awareness about inequities in education and to encourage philanthropy among people who do not consider themselves to be philanthropists. Their Blogger Challenge is an innovative way that DonorsChoose.org has been able to reach the “long tail†of values connected individuals. With a personal style and manner more befitting an online mogul than a nonprofit executive, Mr. Best confided that DonorsChoose.org — while the darling of Internet-entrepreneur philanthropists like Jeff Skoll and Bezos — has been less than successful at attracting the attention of more traditional foundations. A lively discussion ensued between Mr. Best and the audience.
Please visit the conference website to read more about the panel discussions and to get involved in next year’s event.
My role in consulting to philanthropies and nonprofits has been an experience of great learning and continuous growth. In addition to recounting the unique experiences that led me to my current position, I would like to share some of the insights I have gained from working in this dynamic field, and some notable developments I have observed in the nonprofit arena.
Earlier this year, Community Servings, a Boston-based nonprofit serving meals to the critically ill, contacted my nonprofit consulting firm, TDC, for help with a prospective earned income venture. In the midst of building a new facility that would double its capacity to make meals, the senior staff wanted to know if there was a viable market for selling meals wholesale to other nonprofits, such as charter schools and senior centers.
Prior to Yale, Prof. Mobarak taught at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and before that worked at the IMF and the World Bank. Prof. Mobarak is currently undertaking a number of research projects centered on topics relevant to the lives of the poor in the developing world. One of Prof. Mobarak’s research interests is marital behaviors in developing countries. He is exploring why countries such as Pakistan have a very high rate of marriage between relatives. He feels that studying and understanding the factors that lead to marriage between relatives will enable the creation of appropriate policies to combat the risks associated with this behavior.
Nonprofit healthcare managers often feel conflicted about charging a price for their goods or services, especially when clients’ immediate health and welfare are at stake. On one hand, it is often the case that their target client population is poor, and placing an additional financial burden on poor people feels wrong. On the other hand, there is evidence that clients do not use donated products appropriately, resulting in lower impact of nonprofit managers’ time and investments. Here is a case where the right decision may feel completely wrong.
On October 29 through 31, more than ninety child welfare professionals from all over the country gathered in the GM Room to create plans to optimize systems in government agencies with the support of non-profits and for-profits to improve the efficiency of human services. Daniel Stein, SOM’87, co-founder of Stewards of Change, the organization that arranged this conference, attended his 20th SOM reunion in October and was delighted to be holding this third annual conference at SOM.
I spent my summer in Washington, DC, at PBS (Public Broadcasting System) in the Ventures division, which focuses on how to add incremental revenue to the bottom line. I completed a strategy for the creation of a business development unit, a competitive analysis of online kids games, recommendations for the forecasting of bandwidth use, and business process requirements for the implementation of a film editing software. I learned about a whole new industry (public television), was given a lot of independence to work on my projects, and had a sense of ownership and pride about what I completed. My supervisor was great; he made sure to keep in touch on what I was doing, was enthusiastic about the work that I did, and worked hard to make sure that my work was substantive and MBA-level.