Lost in Philanthropy

I started with an incredibly vast and vague idea for my project: philanthropy in the 21st century. In the beginning, I wanted to profile the new president of the Ford Foundation and also look at how his appointment represented greater changes in philanthropy. It didn't take long to realize that I had neither access or the time to write that story. And it should have occurred to me earlier that philanthropy is too large and complex a subject to grasp for a quick semesters story.

There are some tremendously helpful websites though. Tactical Philanthropy is a blog by Sean Stannard-Stockton, who, apart from being a UC Davis alum like me, philanthropy consulting firm in California. He also writes a column on philanthropy for The Financial Times. Reading through his site has been helpful like all blogs are helpful: its archives entries by topic, so I can research specific areas of philanthropy; there are links of related articles, and most important the blog has the latest in the debate.


At the same time, reading Tactical Philanthropy shows me how difficult it may be to grab on to an interesting and new angle about philanthropy. I've already decided to write on venture philanthropists, with my video on the social entrepreneurs they fund. Tomorrow I'm visiting the office of Blue Ridge Foundation of New York and speaking with its executive director, Matthew Klein. Blue Ridge Foundation only gives grants to New York City companies, and engage non-profits from their start. It's a small outfit: only a few full time workers, one of whom graduated from NYU's graduate journalism program. One problem that's already come up is that there may be little to film. A lot of the social entrepreneurs that Blue Ridge funds have a strong Internet component or relate to legal services, which don't make great video. I will see tomorrow. For now, more research about social entrepreneurs and venture philanthropists.