Lucy Bernholz

cross-platform philanthropy

Year's most creative fundraiser

(Poster on window of 826 Valencia pirate shop) OK, OK - it's only January 2nd - plenty of time for someone else to claim this award.  But in the meantime, 826 Valencia's Spelling Bee for Cheaters wins my award for funniest/most creative fundraising idea of

How things have changed

A friend of mine with a 10 year old asked me how she could spend time with him making their charitable donations this year. She and her son are generous people and are actively involved in local  community and political issues. The dollar amount of their giving is  significant to

Philanthropy Buzzword 2010.10 - Giving Pledge

Nothing says philanthropy in 2010 like "The Giving Pledge." Well, except maybe the depressing reality that more Americans than ever before  say they can't give to charity this year. Or that most of us will be  doing our best to give the same amount we gave

Two great books from 2010

Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Jaron Lanier, You are not a Gadget I wrote this in mid June and never posted it for a reason that I can no longer remember. Last week Jed Emerson called me and asked me if I'd read Jaron Lanier&

Predictions and strategy

Here is a video of Matt Bishop of Philanthrocapitalism fame putting forward his predictions for philanthropy. His list includes a rise in online citizen philanthropy, bad news for microfinance, rise in impact investing, Steve Jobs signing the Giving Pledge, boom year for education giving, down turn in government aid, and

Ten for the next 10: 2010 - 2020

(Cross posted on the Stanford Social Innovation Review Blog) (photo by alykat, Creative Commons, attribution, non commercial) Earlier this year, I took a look back at my decade of predictions, 1999-2009. You can find that online here. I've also published my annual forecast for what will matter in

Philanthropy Buzzword 2010.9 - Markets for Good

Last year Impact Investing topped the buzzword list. This year we've expanded from the changes in investing to the larger markets of which they are a part. The phrase "Markets for Good" got its biggest push at this year's SoCAP conference, but the idea

2010 Publications

Ah, December, time to reflect on the year gone by. 2010 was wonderfully productive on the writing front. Thanks to everyone who contributed to and used Disrupting Philanthropy, the breakout publication of the year. But it wasn't the only thing I wrote - here are several other publications

Philanthropy Buzzword 2010.8 - Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding. -  the latest buzzword for philanthropy and social enterprise Crowdfunding is the "magic" behind Kickstarter and IndieGoGo - post an idea, activate your networks, and see if you can raise small bits of money from as many people as possible to meet a funding goal. Crowdfunding is

As interesting as it gets?

My first post for the Guardian UK Voluntary Sector Network is up - take a look. And let us know in the comments there what you think will change everything.....

The Future is Here

Philanthropy and Social Investing: Blueprint 2011 is now available. Please click here to purchase your copies. We'll also be hosting seminars on the forecast starting in January. Stay tuned for more information on those. Want a sneak preview of Blueprint 2011? Here you go: Citizens United v. Federal

The real online revolution in giving

For all the talk of Web 2.0 (and even 3.0), philanthropy online has evolved fairly slowly since the dot com days. First we got big, red Donate Now buttons on every website. Then donation sites such as GlobalGiving came along to provide vetted projects and charitable options for

Philanthropy Buzzword 2010.7- Chuggers

The Giving Pledge (Buzzword 2010.10) might be considered the "high" of buzzwords. So here's the low - Chugger and Chugging. In honor of the new Voluntary Sector network on The Guardian UK - this is an imported Philanthropy Buzzword 2010.7 - Chuggers / Chugging. Chugging

Random Philanthropy Observation - Crowdsourced recruiting

Over on Tumblr, where I keep my Random Philanthropy Observations, I've noted this new trend/need -- crowdsourcing hiring and recruiting Check it out. Tags: philanthropy, crowdsourcing, RPOs, RandomPhilanthropyObservations

The market of philanthropy advisers

I recently completed the cognitive juggling act of simultaneously reading Alliance Magazine's very thoughtful issue on philanthropy advisers while listening to the video stream of the Edge discussion on "What will change everything?" at the Genoa Science Festival. The September 2010 issue of Alliance features articles

Citizens United and new rules for Nonprofits

(Cross posted on the Stanford Social Innovation Review) The most important task for the social sector in the United States in 2011 will be to understand the effects of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United vs. the FEC. This decision removed prior restrictions on independent spending by corporations

The history of the future

(Photo from http://www.kk.org/ct2/2009/06/the-internet-mapping-project.php) I'm an historian by training. At Stanford, I had the great honor of working with David Kennedy, who was both my teacher and a member of my dissertation committee. Kennedy is the author of several best selling

Make it easier to know than to not know

I've written a lot about data and data visualization. I believe that data are the new platform for change. I believe that data visualization should be about sense making not just the Wow! factor. Of course, neither data nor data visualization are silver bullets. The data have to

Money Laundering in Nonprofits

My colleague from Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, Professor Rob Reich, is a smart political theorist. He even makes tax incentives interesting. For a long time Rob has been asking whether the “blunt tool” of tax exemption is right for all charitable giving. On a recent panel

Random Philanthropy Observations (RPOs)

I'm traveling a lot, writing like mad to meet the December 1 publication date for Blueprint 2011, and am close to final manuscript for a new book, so blogging is taking a bit of a backseat.  I have a moment now and thought I'd orient you

Get ready for 2011

Reading this post on the blog? Look over there to the top spot, right hand column. See the ad for last year's 2010  industry forecast, Philanthropy and Social Investing: Blueprint 2010.* Now, get ready for 2011. Blueprint 2011 is coming soon! (Available for orders on December 1) The

Court side seats?

This story from Inc. Magazine provides a quick run down on five cases being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming session that "could change your business." Does anyone do this from the perspective of nonprofits or philanthropy? Given the potential impact of the Citizens

This year's Giving Season Gimmick - Coupons for Charity

It's not even Halloween and I'm doubling down, ready for the onslaught of Giving Season Gimmicks. No way am I going to naively wait until November for this to start. Heck, I've been thinking about it since back-to-school shopping wrapped up. I just thought

I Live in the Future and Here's How it Works by Nick Bilton

At the Environmental Grantmakers Association Fall Retreat last week I tried two "stage gimmicks" that I derived directly from reading Nick Bilton's new book, I Live in the Future and Here's How it Works. * "This is how much information an 18th Century professional

Embedded Giving - Bad for you, bad for change

New economic research shows that folks who buy green products may act more selfishly and less eco-consciously later on. Those who insulate their houses and use green building products are likely to then crank up the heat. These findings come from studies by the economist Nina Mazar at The Rotman