Shouldn't you put the same amount of effort into your giving as you might for your for-profit investments? After all, philanthropy is an investment, and one in which lives - not profits - are at stake.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Much corporate giving is charitable in nature rather than philanthropic.
You cannot mandate philanthropy. It has to come from within, and when it does, it is deeply satisfying.
In philanthropy, many of us give a little bit and each year we give more and more to see what actually works and not just throw money out there and see if it's going to work. If the government did the same thing, fabulous.
Philanthropy is not about giving money but about solving problems. While well-meaning, the idea of writing a check and calling it 'philanthropy' is extremely short-sighted and unfortunately, extremely pervasive.
There's a lot of complacency in philanthropy. People figure organizations are trying to do good, and that's enough, even if the results aren't there. But that's wasteful and inefficient. It crowds out better programs.
Effective philanthropy requires a lot of time and creativity - the same kind of focus and skills that building a business requires.
Philanthropy should be voluntary.
Charity is just writing checks and not being engaged. Philanthropy, to me, is being engaged, not only with your resources but getting people and yourself really involved and doing things that haven't been done before.
The most generous part of your philanthropy could be the time you put in to procure the same results and same outcomes and same returns you demand in business.
There is a place and a time for philanthropy, and there is only so much money you can give away.