The idea of exploring philanthropy in the 21st century started with a New York Times article on the recent announcement that the Ford Foundation appointed a new president, Luis A. Ubiñas. The headline says it all - "Ford Foundation Selects Its New Leader From Outside the Philanthropic World." Ubinas had come from McKinsey Company and was described in the article as a "a dark-horse candidate with little experience in institutional philanthropy."
I remembered that a couple of years ago I had read about venture philanthropy - also in the Times - and how they applied business discipline to the non-profit arena. And of course there was the announcement last June that Warren Buffet would be giving most of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and that Gates would one day retire and focus on the foundation. On the surface, the world of philanthropy seemed to be moving into a different era, one where foundations and non-profits would increasingly tap into business management expertise to further their effectiveness. From there, the question would be how does the world benefit.
Up to that point, I seemed to have a solid lead for a story. Then the research began. As expected philanthropy is a wide field with hundred of different strands to follow. Luckily there is The Chronicle of Philanthropy, which covers the industry and offers new information and a database of articles. But it's difficult to jump into something as complex philanthropy without a guide. One place I may start my search is the Council on Foundations, which was mentioned in the Times Ford Foundation article and conveniently enough had the stated mission of "defining philanthropy for the 21st century." They are based in Washington DC so I can't drop by but that's what email and the phone are for. I also nexised "venture philanthropy" and found that most of these organizations are on the West Coast - not surprising since that is where most of the technology wealth emerges from. But I was also able to unearth some more potential contacts, like Kathleen McCarthy, the director of City University's Center on Philanthropy. The next step would be to talk to talk to some of these sources, whom I hope can help me find a defined and manageable topic for my guerrilla news project.
