Welcome to the Second Great Wave of Philanthropy. We are in
the midst of a major cultural shift in the way Americans participate in the
world of Giving. Over 100 years ago, Andrew Carnegie launched the First Great
Wave of Philanthropy with the publication of Wealth, his 1889 essay on the importance of philanthropy. With his
urging, many of his peers began to think about organized philanthropy in a new
way and set up large private foundations to execute their vision.

Today we are
in the early stages of The Second Great Wave. The First Great Wave was led by a
small group of ultra-wealth individuals who created enormous bureaucratic entities
that supported government efforts to build such infrastructure as
libraries and hospitals. The leaders of The Second Great will be you. You and
your neighbors, and the family down the block. Entrepreneurs, middle managers
and millions of retiring Baby Boomers will lead the Second Great Wave. Rather than supporting status quo projects, the donors of the Second Great Wave will primarily be concerned with funding entities which promise to bring new approaches to solving social problems.

This blog
will be a chronicle of The Second Great Wave. It will delve into the people,
trends, technologies, strategies and tactics that are shaping the new
definition of philanthropy. The Second Great Wave is happening now. You and I are
not just along for the ride, we are shaping the way that the wave unfolds and
how deeply its effects are felt across the nation. As someone who cares about
Giving, you know how profound the experience of giving back to your community
can be. At its core, this blog will be about you.

What’s Different This Time?

During the last 100+ years, much has changed in the world of
philanthropy, but the dynamics of giving have been simply an extension of the
First Wave. The First Wave followed a hierarchical structure of a few
concentrated pools of wealth making grants to a large base of needy causes.
Philanthropy wasn’t the only discipline to follow this model. Corporate
organization charts, information distribution systems and political systems all
followed this model.

However, as we embark on the 21st century the traditional hierarchical system
structure is collapsing. While the traditional top-down hierarchical system
describes the way Rockefeller’s foundation distributed grants to charities,
which then provided services for the public, a flat hierarchy is the model of the
Second Great Wave.

This shift acknowledges that no one person or entity has all
the answers and instead leads to a virtuous cycle of information feedback. The
philanthropists of the 21st century will be smaller in size, but much larger in
numbers than the philanthropists of the last century.

Tactical Philanthropy

Strategy concerns itself with big picture concepts, tactics
are about how to get things done. One of the defining characteristics of the
new donors, who are driving the Second Great Wave, is their desire for
effectiveness. From researching what organizations to give to, to demanding
accountability from the nonprofits they support, to utilizing sophisticated
giving methods, the new donors want to make sure their giving is having the
most impact it can.

To practice Tactical Philanthropy is to organize, optimize,
and transfer philanthropic capital in ways that maximize the impact of the
donor’s strategic plan. It is the practice of transforming philanthropic
strategy into reality.

Philanthropy is at its core a series of financial
transactions. Just as a well-designed financial plan is valuable only if the
correct savings vehicles are selected, created, and funded, a great Strategic
Philanthropy plan is valuable only if the right tactics are discovered or
created and finally implemented. Tactical Philanthropy concerns itself with
structuring these transactions in ways that are efficient and mutually
advantageous to donors and nonprofits.