PHILANTHROPY FOR TECHIES

Shannon Farley | Co-Founder & Executive Director

WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THIS?

WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THIS?

distrust frustration confusion

#1 question from techies

I want to do some good, but how do I get started?

we will come back to this

here’s what we’re going to discuss

Social enterprise (lay of the land) Giving models

Next steps

but first…

WHICH OF THESE IS NOT A NONPROFIT?

• IKEA • The Academy Awards • Burning Man

WHICH OF THESE IS NOT A NONPROFIT?

• IKEA • The Academy Awards • Burning Man

Trick question. All are nonprofits.

WHAT IS A NONPROFIT?

WHAT IS A NONPROFIT?

(technically) A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive

WHAT IS A NONPROFIT?

WHAT IS A NONPROFIT?

(in practice) It is a tax model

It can be a business model to solve problems for which there is no market solution.

Direct Service

TYPES OF NONPROFITS

soup kitchens schools

community gardens

associations (churches, unions) advocacy organizations (Greenpeace, super PACs)

wikipedia charity:water fast forward

Indirect Service

Intermediaries

BUSINESS MODELS

for profits nonprofits brick & mortar service delivery

product company

PRODUCT COMPANIES

for profits tech nonprofits

build products scale well

profit impact

start ups

TECH NONPROFITS

reddit indiegogo

udemy volunteermatch

wikipedia

charity:water khan academy

one brick

tech nonprofits

NONPROFIT REVENUE

Individual Donations

cash stock

appreciated securities

foundations (public and private) governments

nonprofit grantmakers

goods and services space

Institutional Donations

In-kind Donations

interest (endowments and other cash holdings) fee for service (consulting, speaking fees)

product sales other sources (rent, fiscal sponsorship)

Other Revenue

institutions individuals

in-kindrevenue

WAIT…WHAT ABOUT SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?

WAIT…WHAT ABOUT SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?

no agreed upon definition or impact model

For Profit

tesla solarcity

warby parker etsy

change.org

“B Corps”

a nonprofit that certifies b corps to ensure “public benefit”

EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

HOW TO GET STARTED

*see, told you we’d get back to this

*

HOW TO GET STARTED

*see, told you we’d get back to this

*

1 / what interests you?

2 / what do you want to give?

Volunteer Matching Services

1 / WHAT INTERESTS YOU?

volunteermatch, catchafire, onebrick boardmarch, taproot

linkedin

fast forward tipping point

silicon valley community foundation

good.is co.exist

deliverateLIFE

Funders

Media

DIS

COVE

RY P

LATF

ORM

S

THE

THRE

E T’

S Time

2 / WHAT DO YOU WANT TO GIVE?

build a home beach clean up

mentor an engineer build a website

give legal advice

money software licenses

office space

Talent

Treasure

TIME

How much?

STUFF TO CONSIDER: TIME

5 hours a year (beach clean up) 10 hours a quarter for two years (board service)

t-shirt (beach clean up) board service (grow your professional network)

Return: are you looking for something?

TALENT

What are you good at?

coding planning great parties

UX/UI adwords campaigns

Is there something you do well that would be hard or expensive to source?

STUFF TO CONSIDER: TALENT

content area : public education reform, experience of homeless in sf business strategy : meeting facilitation, board management, volunteer recruitment

What do you want to learn?

TREASURE

What do you have to give?

money appreciated securities

meeting space

cash donor advised fund - family foundation

giving circle

How will you give it?

STUFF TO CONSIDER: TREASURE

recognition: your name on a building access: invitations to high-net worth donor gatherings

Do you want anything in return?

3T TRIFECTA: BOARD SERVICE

responsibilities what you’ll do

ensure fiduciary responsibility hire/fire the ED/CEO

attend board meetings contribute work product

give or get donations recruit other board members

#2 question from techies

How do I know which nonprofits are good?

CHECK OUT THE LEADERS

LEADERSHIP

Do they understand the problem? Can they articulate it?

Do they have a the skills they need in the right positions?

Is there evidence of past success? Will they be able to raise money?

Do you trust them?

for profitstech

nonprofits

CHECK OUT THE PRODUCT

for profitstech

nonprofits

what do their customers say? what do their investors say?

what does your gut say?

PRODUCT COMPANIES

CHECK OUT THE BUSINESS MODEL

GO TO MARKET

how big is the problem? do users give it a high rating?

how many users? is there evidence of

profit growth?

how many served? is there evidence of

impact growth?

for profitstech

nonprofits

IS IT FISCALLY SOUND?

• Start with their 990s (Nonprofits file tax returns) • Check out their annual report • Look for external validation

•Fast Forward & other funders •GiveWell •CharityNavigator

ASSESS OVERHEAD

talent = big cost center scale happens at a later stage it costs money to make money

for profits tech nonprofits

EVALUATE WITH REASON

committed staff working below market rates

shoddy office space limited perks

>3 months cash flow

for profitstech

nonprofits

#3 question from techies

Is it better to give $10 to 100 organizations or $1000 to 1?

$1000 to 1

$100 to 10 versus $1000 to 1

Imagine the nonprofit is a start-up

•what are your expectations for $10? •if you were a board member, would you recommend that they spend time getting lots of small investors or one big fish?

#4 question from techies

Is it better to give to big organizations with proven track record or small startup nonprofits?

THAT’S PERSONAL

INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO

Treat your giving like your investment portfolio

• what percentage goes into “safe bets”? • what do you set aside to friend’s galas/ walk and runs? • how much are you willing to risk for big impact returns?

RECOMMENDED ORGANIZATIONS

#1 question from techies

I want to do some good, but how do I get started?

GO DO IT