More than 25 billion dollars is expected to pour into the philanthropic sector this year. Those gifts will transform significant parts of North America’s civic sector landscape. John James gave me an article from the Globe and Mail last year and it started me thinking about our clubs’ philanthropic ideals and fund-raising efforts. Joel Fleishmans’ new book called Putting Wealth to Work examines the changing world of philanthropy and echoes the opinions of others like Darren Walker and Brian Stephens of the Ford Foundation, George Soros, Bill Gate and Warren Buffett. The main point that these philanthropists make is that the trend to a “spend down” mentality is endangering the long-term survival of endowment institutions and that this endangerment is not good. Think about The Rotary Foundation.
If you look at the efforts from non-profit organizations like Rotary and its’ partnerships, working on our 6 areas of focus like Child and Maternal Health, Peace and Conflict Resolution and Water and Sanitation most of them have been founded by or nurtured from Perpetual Foundations. When you examine the arena of “spend down” charitable efforts and what motivates them to give money to things, it is really an effort to replicate, in the non-profit civic sector, the achievements they are enjoying in the profit sector. What companies and individuals are looking for in the short term is a big bang. But what Fleishman suggests is that you do not get a big bang fast. What the studies show is that the sending of money in a short period of time does not correlate to what you would expect.
I agree with them that we need to recalibrate the discourse because our efforts in fund-raising shows an imbalance. What is the long horizon for Rotary and how do we compete for members, support and donations? Generational change is a decision everyone must make for themselves. What Rotary is going to look like in 10 to 15 years is not just something I think about or write about or wonder about it is hopefully going to be part of my life. The right answer is the long term.
Tuesday we will be thanking our Sponsors and Donors for their generous contributions to the Rotary Pro-Am. This money will fuel many of our worthy initiatives. It is safe to say that we represent the best of what philanthropy is all about. Not just about managing policy and procedure but about managing our moral responsibility and need for social justice.
Do not forget about the mock interviews at KSS this Wednesday, please contact Gordy Charles.
See you Tuesday. The place to be in Kelowna at noon.