Just like everyone ready this post, I’m concerned about our environment, our people and our economies – it can all be very overwhelming. We don’t always have the time to dig deeply into the things that are important to us – but I have a little more time on my hands so I’m digging deeper and I’m feeling more optimistic and hopeful lately.

So why am I optimistic? Recently, I read through several reports on the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) website. For the past ten years, CECP has been working with top-tier international business CEOs and executives to raise the level and quality of corporate giving. I’m hopeful because they make the case to their nearly 250+ members, that in order to stay competitive in our growing economies – businesses can, should and must help shape the future in solving social problems through business strategy. Good news, more and more companies are setting up foundations to fund and partner with non-profit and non-government organizations to solve social issues like sustainability, poverty and education – it’s good business.

CECP’s recent report, Shaping the Future: Solving Social Programs through Business Strategy (a ten-year look ahead) and their other reports will leave you feeling hopeful by the demonstrated commitment of their members who are not doing business as usual.

The night was hot, but we stayed inside and cool with wine, food, and conversation. One of our newest member-investors, Deborah Sprague, created a groovy video of the evening, which can be viewed from our Facebook page. Check it out! (and don’t forget to become a Facebook fan of the VPF page – lots of updates and news is posted there).

Happy summer!

Read more here!

Here’s the March newsletter – lots of information about what the Project Management Committee is up to and upcoming events with our partners and friends. Even a promotion to a superb conference happening next month at the Lincoln Center.

Check it out!

And kicking it off is our February newsletter.
View it here.

Who: VPF members, family, friends and guests
When: Thursday, November 20th, 7 – 10pm
Where: Galapagos Art Space
16 Main Street, Brooklyn (DUMBO)
Free entry, cash bar with special drink offered in upstairs bar just for us!

CLICK HERE TO RSVP




IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:

Sherry Mills, Artist and Photographer
www.sherrymills.com/

Sherry Mills will exhibiting a selection of her work from A CLOSER NY©. This project enriches the daily lives of New Yorkers and helps them to emotionally connect with their environment, to see the often-overlooked visual treasures of their own neighborhoods. Its citywide photo displays offer an artistic view of New York City streets and subways, from scrawls on walls to ripped safety cones, crushed candy, and mailbox rust. A CLOSER NY© extracts the “Gems” from the “Junk” and reinforces the inherent wonders of New Yorkers’ soil-less gardens.

GreenSpaces
www.greenspacesny.com

Green Spaces brings together leading green entrepreneurs by offering shared work space, resources and a community to launch their business.Entrepreneurs have access to a network of peers in different industries to share ideas, and a strong network of Green Business Leaders through the networking group affiliated with Green Spaces. This hub of leading green entrepreneurs will also draw investors, clients and talent looking to break into the new green economy.

New York Women Social Entrepreneurs (NYWSE)
www.ywse.org/nywse

NYWSE is the New York Chapter of Young Women Social Entrepreneurs (YWSE). NYWSE members include seasoned social entrepreneurs, women transitioning from one career to another, and/or adding a social venture idea to their already full plates. NYWSE supports and promotes women social entrepreneurs through workshops, networking opportunities, an incubator, and a book club forum.

Or have you already started something, joined something or support something and just want to meet other like-minded people in the area?

Well, if you haven’t heard Craigslist Foundation is having their annual Nonprofit Bootcamp this weekend in NYC and it’s just about the coolest conference of the year (no, they’re not paying me to say this. I just really think it’s pretty great).

Click here for more info.

It is this recent recognition of failure that makes this discussion ever more relevant. Basically, the question goes like this: why is trial-and-error and the risk of failure understood, if not highly regarded, in the private sector but shunned almost entirely in the nonprofit and philanthropic world?

VPF has been wandering the depths of RFP development for the last couple of months and has hit upon the issue a few times. We have been asking ourselves how much risk we are willing to take on while still funding an innovative entrepreneur that has a high-potential, creative solution to NYC’s persistent problems. Sounds like a riddle, doesn’t it?

Check out the discussion on Social Edge and add to this important conversation…

I attended part of the Council on Foundations philanthropy mega-conference earlier this week representing VPF. I blogged about the experience – and got the word out about VPF to a broader audience – on Tactical Philanthropy, here, here, and here. My VPF colleagues Gali, Lauren, and Leslie were in the house as well.

The Council on Foundations is the trade association for organized philanthropy. Its annual conference generally draws about 2,000 people. Given that there are maybe 10,000 foundation staff in the whole country, this is a big number. CoF also holds sector conferences for family foundations, community foundations, and corporate foundations. This year, it combined them all into one big event. It also made a conscious, if not entirely successful, effort to attract more funders from abroad. As a result, the attendance this year was in the neighborhood of 3,500.

For broad and deep coverage of the conference, including detailed summaries of VPF-relevant sessions on social entrepreneurship, venture philanthropy, and funding climate change, check out the following blogs:

• Tactical Philanthropy
• New Voices of Philanthropy
• EPIPhanies

After a few days back home, here are some reflections:

• Institutional philanthropy is in the midst of a full-fledged identity crisis. There was almost as much discussion at the conference of why we do what we do as what we do. And the calls for “more” were legion: Philanthropy should be more global, more proactive, more communicative, more willing to embrace human rights, more willing to support advocacy. Practically no one said, we’re doing a pretty good job, and we should stay the course in the midst of tough times. That’s the sign of a field in flux.
• The “next gen” is the place to be. Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, 21/64, and Resource Generation co-sponsored a wildly successful “Next Gen” track that was the talk of the conference. But now that a space has really been opened, what do we do with it? EPIP’s involvement in the Social Justice Philanthropy Collaborative is a good sign that we can start answering the questions, what does the next gen want, and what will it do differently?
• We’re only beginning to scratch the surface of engagement with our counterparts in other countries. The opening plenary featured leaders of counterparts of the Council of Foundations from Canada, Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In the brief time they had, each shared fascinating glimpses into the challenges of promoting philanthropy in areas with no legal incentives in the tax code and traditions of charitable – as opposed to strategic – giving.
• Strategic philanthropy is important, but don’t underestimate charity. Susan Berresford, former head of the Ford Foundation, made this point on Sunday, and the tragic news from Myanmar this week reminds us that sometimes the best thing we can do is to get people in dire need the very basics right away. Speaking of which, Myanmar relief options are here, here, and here. I especially like the approach of the last one.
• It’s not clear to me that most foundations are ready to engage with giving circles in a meaningful way. A terrific panel on this very topic was woefully underattended. VPF has a lot of work to do – let’s get to it!