The Gift of Giving that Keeps Giving

I am listening to an ABC program called Life Matters. They are interviewing people about philanthropy from the perspective of those giving and those receiving. Some of the subjects have been mental illness, disability and transplants.

The gift of giving in my experience is who you are not what you do. If you love to give, to share, to engage you will give naturally. It is not about giving means less money for you, it is to look into the eyes of the other and see the gift was received at the point of indicating you are giving. Giving is not about the money, it is about joining with someone else, it is true community.

The concept of giving is seen as rewarding and enriching. My friend who is with me has studied feminism and commented that women do it all the time. I do agree with her many women are mostly carers with kids. I retorted ‘society takes that for granted, so it is not seen. I understand it to mean giving across society particularly in a society that focuses on self.’

For me, I mostly give but I see it in an expanded way. I give everytime I leave the house. I smile and chat with people and really talk with others. That is normal for me. I often end up in great conversations and feel a real sense of connectedness to my community, so that is a joy. Other ways I give is to cook for people, help out if I think someone needs help, make offers of help. Moreover, my clowning is a gift. I am looking at orphanages now as I am feeling to give clowning to them over christmas, so will make a few calls. Why do i want to do it, I choose it because I enjoy it. I like giving, it is fun to see people smile and feel loved and do a few outrageous things to get them laughing at you. When I think back over my own life I wrote my own work without funding and have offered my work by donation or free to schools. Mostly i do this because I just want to get it out there and not allow money to be a barrier. What I did discover is the barrier is the perceptions around peace education. However, that doesn’t matter, what matters is that I offered.

In a world like this offering for free can be challenging as people think it is not worth much (no price) hence not valued. Or they think the price is too much or not enough. This is particularly the case in schools. So if you want to do a lot of work with children as an outsider it is very difficult to gain a foothold. I have lots of great ideas for whole school education making values the base foundation. Moreover, I would work with parents and teach them conflict resolution and happiness. What goes on in the family has impacts on children and this is the loom of society, this is how we weave the social fabric in my view. I would also have values modelled by teachers and they could be written into quality procedures at schools. Moreover, I would introduce more laughter and bonding amongst staff like a family. We have to deeply think about how we teach, what we teach and do we walk the talk? Moreover, is education relevant to children? is it going to create happiness and bonding? is it going to bring out their natural talents? and most importantly are they going to know themselves more deeply? To thyself be true is an important philosophy and is an anchor in life. If you are floating around just doing what you are told without critical thinking, then you are not living to your full potential. I wrote a Children’s Circle Parliament which would have developed conflict resolution skills, creative thinking, clowning, research and solutions generation. The idea was to have them work together, not against each other and to learn to listen, to collaborate and to generate possibilities. So at school they could solve their own problems, such as bullying etc. Schools model society and to look at the model gives us insights into why society is imploding. So I had lots of possibilities sitting there but did not meet the right people to bring this to fruition. A philanthropist would have been great and I did come to that conclusion. However, my feeling was that it would have to be the right person who is committed to peace and harmony. I wouldn’t want someone who wants to be seen to be. I am aware that intention is more important than money.

So here is some interesting information about philanthropy and personal stories of those involved.

http://www.philanthropyuk.org/resources/david-gold

Dame Stephanie Shirley

Entrepeneurial philanthropy

Dame Stephanie (Steve) Shirley is an entrepreneur. She started an early business technology group on her dining room table with £6 in 1962. In 25 years as its Chief Executive, she developed the company, now called Xansa into a FTSE 250 leading technology group, which has pioneered new working practices and changed the position of professional women – especially in hi-tech – along the way.

Since retiring as honorary Life President in 1993, Dame Stephanie has increasingly devoted her time to philanthropy. Having arrived in the UK in 1939 as an unaccompanied child refugee from Germany, she explains, “my personal history is the main reason why I give. As a refugee, I need to justify the fact that my life was saved while so many others were lost. I’ve been the recipient of charity and have been sensitised to issues in a way that people who have always had enough money – not to be hungry anyway – find hard to imagine”.

Dame Stephanie defines giving as a social and cultural activity as much as a financial transaction: “Money alone is seldom the answer. It can be a compassionate act of detachment, but I try to make it a committed act of love”. To ensure that her money has an impact – that she can truly make a difference – she also gets personally involved: “I never, ever, just write a cheque, I use my business and entrepreneurial skills, along with my wealth, to do the things that I’m good at. I pioneer new projects, projects that wouldn’t otherwise happen and that, if successful, make a real difference”. To be strategic and pioneering, she willingly takes risks, accepting that some projects might fail: “If we had 100% success, then I’d reckon we were not taking enough risk and doing the difficult, unpopular things.”

Motivated by her own experiences, Dame Stephanie focuses her giving in the two fields she knows and cares most about – information technology, her chosen discipline, and autism, her late son’s disability. The Shirley Foundation, which ranks among the top 50 grant-giving foundations in the UK, has in the last seven years awarded more than £50 million in grants to charitable causes. She provided £10 million for the establishment of the Oxford Internet Institute at Balliol College, which is the world’s first truly multi-disciplinary Internet institute based in a major university. Her current focus is on a global medical research project to determine the causes of autism.

The Foundation also supports other autism-linked charities, such as Autismconnect, the first web user community dealing with disability issues, and Prior’s Court School, established in 1998 and inspired by a visit to a centre for autistic children in the US that uses a holistic development approach, including physical education, with great results.

In the 1980s, Dame Stephanie and her husband set up The Kingwood Trust to help meet the needs of her handicapped son. Realising that the Trust could also provide for other people with disabilities, she set up additional support homes, which today care for more than 37 adults with autism.

As an avid entrepreneur, she is also interested in shaping a more professional charity sector: “I believe this sector is moving from ‘amateur do-gooder’ to a more professional field. The tactical giving – here and there – is very inefficient. Though I respect the choices people make for giving, I think there is a lot to learn from the experiences of the United States, where citizens have a sense of gratitude and of giving back to society.”

Dame Stephanie receives an enormous amount of satisfaction from giving: “I enjoy working with young people. We are all children of society and so should give something back to the world our children will live in. Giving is a lifestyle, and it is not altruistic at all given that I get so much in return”. As an entrepreneur, a pioneer, and a philanthropist, Dame Stephanie concludes that “a large bank balance is all very nice, but like the 16th Century philosopher Francis Bacon, I believe that ‘money is like muck, not good except it be spread.'”

(from A Guide to Giving, 2nd edition, 2005)

Engaged Philanthropy

David Gold does not like labels. For instance, he resists being called a venture philanthropist, explaining: “We are a risk-taking funder, but what we do is applied common sense. It is important to try to balance the many social outcomes against a financial commitment.” He worries that venture philanthropy may be creating a new language and new hurdles.

David first became involved with the voluntary sector as head of the London region for Business in the Community, after 15 years in the City at Phillips & Drew Fund Management, including three years on the Board. “I was impressed by the managerial strength of the voluntary sector. They are generally well and creatively run, and do incredible things with very little money and resources.” After two years at BitC, where he was involved in three major campaigns, David was hooked. He left in 2000 and bought ProspectUs, a recruitment agency focused exclusively on voluntary organisations and other non-profits, with the mission to “bring more and better resources into the sector.”

In addition to running ProspectUs, David also chairs the London arm of A Glimmer of Hope, an operating foundation started by his sister and brother-in-law, Donna and Philip Berber. Donna was inspired to “make a difference” in Ethiopia after attending the 1985 LiveAid concert in Wembley Stadium. The foundation invests in long-term development projects in Ethiopia, such as digging water wells and building schools and hospitals. While the founders provide both their money and their time, they rely on local representatives to choose and run the projects. “Africa is a land of fabulous opportunity,” says David. “For $6 a person, you can supply clean water to a community. For the price of a studio apartment in Notting Hill, you can change lives in an entire district!”

A Glimmer of Hope also supports community-led youth projects in London, where David and Donna grew up. They typically provide each project with £30,000 – £40,000 in funding over three years, more recently based on full-cost recovery, which includes proportionate overhead as well as project-specific costs. David emphasises that “we are light on paper, high on engagement”. A Glimmer of Hope manager and trustee meet formally with the charity every six months, but the level of ongoing support is based on the needs of the charity. “We do not burden the charities with an intrusive application process or the collection of complicated outcomes data…in supporting the charities, we do things with them, not to them.”

As a risk-taking funder, A Glimmer of Hope accepts that there will be some failures, but mitigates this risk by finding good people and then trusting them to do well. For example, the trust has had good experiences funding projects started by graduates of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, who have done a “super job.” Yet, the ultimate indicator of success is, of course, sustainability – when the charity no longer needs A Glimmer of Hope’s support.

Inspired by the projects he funds, David serves as trustee to StreetShine, a Glimmer of Hope-supported social enterprise that helps the homeless by providing them with steady work shining shoes around the City of London. He also is on the board of Futurebuilders, which provides government funding for public service delivery by the voluntary and community sector in England.

David advises those wishing to be more strategic in their charitable giving to “get personally involved – the combination of time and money is very powerful. Do not be judgmental; these organisations are very resource-constrained. You can have real impact if you marry what you know with a capacity to learn.”

So is David Gold a venture philanthropist? Or perhaps an engaged philanthropist? That depends on how you define the terms; but as David would argue, labels do not matter – your commitment and passion, and the impact you have on others, do.

(from A Guide to Giving, 2nd edition, 2005)

Giving with passion

By Sue Wixley

Formerly the Royal Ballet’s principal dancer Darcey Bussell now focuses her energies on giving back and supports Rainforest Concern.

When she was the Royal Ballet’s principal dancer Darcey Bussell did shows for charity, but since her retirement last year her philanthropy has taken a more central role.

“Unlike dancing, which is a bit of a selfish art, this is not all about me. Now I want to give something back,” says Bussell.

Bussell has chosen to support the work of Rainforest Concern, a UK-based charity that targets biodiversity ‘hot spots’, particularly the dense rainforests in South America.

“They don’t buy up land, but they work with the local community to preserve the forest and species that live in it,” she says. “By working with local organisations they can help people living close to the forests to find ways to earn income which doesn’t have a negative impact on the forest.”

Bussell feels that having her two children has given her a new appreciation for the environment and motivated her to do more for the next generation. Getting older has played its part too.

“To know that you’re giving something back feels good. As soon as you have kids, you want to make them understand and appreciate their surroundings. It’s also about slowing down. As you get older you realise that it’s not necessary to live in the fast lane, and I realise that I only need to be happy – and for me and my family to be healthy.”

For Bussell, focusing her giving is really important because it means she can learn a lot about the subject. “By concentrating on one charity I can learn more and know what I’m talking about. That way I feel that I’m making much more of a difference and doing a better job.”

She recommends that donors base their giving on an understanding of a problem. Indeed, it was discovering that the world’s rainforests have been halved within her own lifetime that motivated Bussell to do something about it. “As the rainforests diminish, we lose species at an incredible rate. It makes me want to get out there and put a big brick wall around the rainforests – anything to stop it happening!”

The dancer recommends that donors approach intermediaries for advice on their giving. “People may know an awful lot but they might not know about charities and how to give constructively. Organisations like New Philanthropy Capital can help to show them how giving money to charities can work for them.”

Although Bussell supports the idea of a more hard-headed, information-driven approach to supporting charities, that does not mean that giving needs to be cold or emotionless. “If you are passionate about something, you can do so much more,” she says.

(From Philanthropy UK’s Special Report: Women & Philanthropy, March 2008)