Individuals Move Faster Than Institutions

According to onPhilanthropy’s Tom Watson who blogged live from the fourth annual Skoll World Forum for social entrepreneurs at Oxford:

(Jeff) Skoll said that this "is a changing time for philanthropy," and that much of the focus these days is on bringing business practices to philanthropy. But he suggested that buzzwords like "philanthropreneurs" may miss the point: it's not just about change in the nature of philanthropy, "but a movement from institutions to individuals." Individuals, he suggested, can move faster and take more chances.

My experience as the head of the Association of Small Foundations suggests that Jeff (pictured left) is correct. More than ever before, donors are acting on their capacity to effect change. The media is full of stories about individuals who get fired up by an idea of how they can help, and then simply go do it.

While the visions I’ve seen lately range widely – from contributing to the peace process in Northern Ireland to ensuring that New Yorkers can be touched by the power of Tibetan art – they are based on the recognition that it doesn’t take an institution to “raise a child,” it takes loving, caring interactions between real human beings.

That’s why I’d go further than Jeff to say that while individuals can move faster and take more chances, they can also bring an element of care to the process that is difficult for even the most evolved institutions to manifest. Not surprisingly, these deeply human traits also characterize philanthropy at its best.

Tim Walter