Blog

The Social Impact Side of Impact Investing

This morning, I went to a panel presentation on impact investing, and it was actually the fourth such panel put on by the financial services community I have been to over the last few months.  Given the obvious popularity of the topic, it is clear there is interest and a yearning from financial service providers […]

By |April 14th, 2015|Impact Investing|2 Comments

Organizing Your Giving: The Philanthropic Portfolio

“I give to people when asked, and I support a lot of different causes, but I’m not sure I’m really meaningfully involved with any causes. There is little to no organization around what I support, and I have no idea the type of impact my dollars provide.” Does this sound like you or someone you […]

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know…About Philanthropy: Identifying When Someone Needs Help

Do you ever stop and think about your philanthropy (or your client’s) and wonder if you need help?  It can be hard to identify when we need to step outside ourselves and seek advice or guidance.  Giving is often one of those unfamiliar places where frankly you just don’t know what you don’t know.  It […]

By |March 26th, 2015|High Impact Philanthropy|0 Comments

A Philanthropic Conversation / Inspiration

Last week, I co-hosted a group of thirteen thirty-something women to my home to discuss philanthropy and how we could each increase the impact of our giving.  The idea was to create a safe space for women who we knew were active in or thinking about philanthropy to exchange their thoughts and ideas on their […]

Debunking the Myth of Overhead

Choosing which charity to give money to can be a difficult decision. You want your money to go to a worthy cause and to ultimately provide as much impact for your intended recipients as possible. The problem is that in addition to paying for worthy activities like sheltering the homeless or caring for the sick, […]

The Two Sides of Impact Investing

Impact Investing, Worth the Hype?

Impact Investing generates a lot of excitement within many sectors. Everyone from financial advisers and investors to community foundations, to philanthropists seem to me talking about it. JP Morgan estimates the potential of impact investing to be $400 billion to $1 trillion of the next ten years. That represents a lot […]

By |January 6th, 2015|Impact Investing|0 Comments

Why Is Giving So Darn Hard

Why is it that the more you give, be it time or money, the harder it becomes? Giving is supposed to be easy, just write a check, sit back, and count the number of mouths your check is able to feed or the vaccinations your dollars will provide, right? Rarely is giving that easy, if […]

By |December 13th, 2014|High Impact Philanthropy|1 Comment

Welcome to the Smarter Give blog!

Welcome to the Smarter Give blog! The goal of this post is to give you an opportunity to get to know Smarter Give, our thinking, and our experiences. It is also an opportunity for you to raise issues and ask questions you may have about philanthropy. Hopefully, it is a forum for learning and will […]

By |November 17th, 2014|High Impact Philanthropy|0 Comments