Beyond the Money: Reflections on Philanthropy, the Nonprofit Sector and Civic Life, 1999–2006
Beyond the Money: Reflections on Philanthropy, the Nonprofit Sector and Civic Life, 1999 –2006 by Edward Skloot, former president of the Surdna Foundation from 1989 to 2008. The book was originally published in 2007.
Concluding nearly 18 years as president of the Surdna Foundation, Edward Skloot looks back on a period of rapid change in American philanthropy, social policy, politics, and civic ideals. Building on his experience as grantseeker and foundation chief executive, Skloot asks how foundations, nonprofit organizations, and individuals can reach beyond the simple economics of donations and volunteerism to implement a more effective approach to organizational leadership, philanthropy, and fundamental social change.
Beyond the Money: Reflections on Philanthropy, the Nonprofit Sector and Civic Life, 1999 –2006
Introduction
A look back, and forward
What you have in your hands is a kind of walking tour through several critical concerns facing philanthropy, the nonprofit sector, and civil society. The concerns were put forth in a number of talks I was honored to give over the last eight years, of which these are a representative selection. Taken together, they are one person’s effort to define, analyze, make sense of, and suggest remedies to challenges that beset civic organizations specifically created for our collective betterment.
The impetus for the publication was the ongoing flow of requests for copies of individual speeches. Sometimes, too, colleagues would mention the usefulness of one or another of these talks in puzzling out the dilemmas they faced in the sector. It seemed to me that the demand for copies (despite their being posted on the Surdna Foundation website) was uncommonly high, and therefore that a printed compilation might be worth putting in the public domain. The board of directors of the Surdna Foundation agreed with this conclusion and graciously underwrote the costs of editing and publication.
I hope these talks (and one memo) will be a spark for further thought, investigation, and debate, as well as a spur to colleagues to implement some of the changes suggested. For example, the paucity of useful research data, the lack of effective sectoral and cross-sectoral collaborations, and the pathetic level of advocacy by foundations all can be changed if we choose to. In fact, if we want to boost the influence of our sector, then we’ll have to work more empathetically,more energetically,more politically. Only this year has the field seen an excellent, comprehensive text on the history of and current issues facing philanthropy—by Joel L. Fleishman, in The Foundation: A Great American Secret. The little collection you are reading now is wider in its scope and more impressionistic in its tone than Joel’s finely honed, expert review of the philanthropic sector. But I hope this contribution will also be provocative and useful. Call it the “sorbet course” in an ongoing dinner conversation about the uncommon challenges facing civil society.
This book is being published to mark the conclusion of my 18 years as CEO of the Surdna Foundation (1989–2007). In this time, philanthropy has slowly moved toward center stage in defining and solving national and international problems. Since the burst of the technology bubble in 2001, philanthropy’s growth has revived and has been huge—both in the number of foundations created and in the amount of money spent in mission-related activities. As long as the economy holds reasonably strong, we can expect this growth to continue. Thus, the bigger challenges before us can be met with more money, hopefully (as described in this book) delivered in more effective ways.
The Surdna board (and the larger Andrus family) gave me the opportunity to think about many of our most important challenges, as well as the authority to act on them. The board has been central to all successes I have had, and its commitment to raising the level of philanthropic excellence has been both sustained and exceptional. I am grateful to them and feel honored to have worked for them. Our staff has worked at the highest level of skill and compassion, and they have been, along with our grantee– colleagues, my teachers and friends. All have had a piece of these speeches, though only I am responsible for their content. I hope they pass muster and that the ideas behind them will provoke continuous discussion and relentless action.
– Ed Skloot, May 2007