Advancing an Organization Serving
the Ultra Wealthy
Introduction
Why did I rate this story as my best ever? Let me provide context: I’ve been on a ten-year quest to maximize the impact of my time and philanthropic efforts. The most potent formula I’ve discovered is simple: quantity x quality = impact. This concept, while straightforward, will undoubtedly be food for debate: The more billionaires and other ultra-wealthy individuals who are motivated to donate their wealth, the more we can do to address the many crisis areas we face. However, the ‘quality’ aspect is a critical contingent. Many of our wealthiest donate vast sums to universities, museums, opera houses, and similar institutions. While these donations indeed add value, they often don’t address urgent issues such as global warming, promoting diversity and inclusion, protecting democracy, and alleviating childhood hunger.
The ‘quality’ component of the equation has two other facets: 1) How to give most effectively. 2) How to give most equitably and ethically. Although well-intentioned, some philanthropic acts inadvertently perpetuate harmful systems such as oppression and philanthropic colonialism. Conversely, under the right circumstances, strategic, evidence-based giving with a lens on ethics and equity can create tremendously impactful results.
Story
Two years ago, a colleague introduced me to a philanthropy support organization (PSO) serving the ultra-wealthy. For reasons discussed here, most PSOs, even those most endowed, are underfunded. They do not have the capacity-building funds needed to achieve extraordinary, far-reaching results. I believed that with capacity support, this organization could reach many more uber-wealthy people sitting on the sidelines because they haven’t figured out the best way to give back. My fund provided $100,000 to hire staff.
About eight months later, I learned that this organization used these additional human resources to create over ten programs that generated over $400,000 in revenue! These programs onboarded new members and provided valuable learning experiences to them and participating members. I further learned that because this effort was so successful, the organizations decided to run these programs every year following.
I was very gratified. My grant not only created additional revenue but to an organization working to increase the quantity and quality of giving among those with the greatest capacities to combat some of the most urgent problems of our time: global warming, shortages of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and poverty, which for me very much includes hunger and disease among children and other vulnerable populations.
I was further gratified because these ten-plus collaborative learning programs covered the quality piece of the equation. Participants engaged in peer-to-peer learning, in sharing challenges, in finding solutions, and in building new relationships. People who often feel isolated because of their privilege found others like themselves they could relate to, confide in, and learn from. Together they explored how to fund with a lens on equity and inclusion. They delved into topics such as localized aid or working alongside of communities rather than providing top-down solutions.
Some familiar with my stories may not concur that this is my best ever. I rate it as my best because I helped an organization that increases the quantity x quality of giving at a mass scale. Furthermore, the return on investment was far beyond what I expected, and it will likely duplicate itself annually. However, some will undoubtedly question whether the wealthy should play such a major role in philanthropy. To this concern, I’d like to point out that even Giridharadas, Author of Winner Takes All…, acknowledges that philanthropy can be part of the solution if done thoughtfully and with a keen awareness of its potential pitfalls.1 With an acknowledgment of these pitfalls, I believe that this was my fund’s best grant ever because it helped reach people anxious not to perpetuate problems while participating in unlocking vast reservoirs of funding to solve some of our most intractable challenges.
1 The assertion on Giridharadas came from information provided by GPT4.
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