Given that the environment is VPF’s topic for 2008, I have been reading up on some of the really great things happening to engage, educate and change the less enviro-friendly habits of my fellow New Yorkers. One of the things I ran across recently is “The Story of Stuff”. Watch it, learn and be totally [...]

Recently, VPF members elected the environment as the topic we will focus on in 2008 – meaning that our Grants Committee team is currently hard at work developing an RFP to actively seek out New York City’s most innovative, emerging social entrepreneurs that are tackling local environmental issues. Appropriately, I had a discussion this morning [...]

Forget about the Obama and Clinton snubs and plugs and put aside the blatant patting on the back of the Canadian tax system – this article offers a unique take on what’s wrong with traditional philanthropy. I was so excited to read it I forgot to finish my first cup of coffee this morning – [...]

So often we think of philanthropy as an individual endeavor. Often, but increasingly less so, as something undertaken by the well-to-do and uber-wealthy. Innovation is churning within the philanthropic establishments and creating exiting new ways and means for us to effectively distribute resources where they are needed most. But what about international states? They too [...]

I’ve been mulling over conversations from earlier this week that created a philosophical quandary with a philanthropic bent. Here’s the scenario: Friend 1, who leans right (politically), gave me the typical lecture heard from politically conservative types that if the government got their sticky fingers off citizens’ money and discontinued their current ‘meddling’ in social [...]

Donors are increasingly skeptical of how their carefully placed contributions are used. It seems that across the board donors are fed up with the scandals, the misplaced money, or the unwillingness to disclose exact money allocation among some nonprofits. A recent article, “Where does your money really go?“, takes a broad view of this issue. [...]

As the first blog entry for NYC Venture Philanthropy Fund (VPF), I think it appropriate to talk about how we started and why. The ‘how’ and ‘why’ tend to be the most commonly asked questions so it seems a logical place to begin… It all started as an article about giving circles in an airline [...]