Paul Martin's Business Update - June 19th, 2014

Paul Martin's Business Update - June 19th, 2014

It`s called Venture Philanthropy and it’s a new way to approach the business of giving.

More than 2,000 business leaders in Canada, the US and Japan have been drawn to this idea of contributing to their community because it looks a lot like business.

First of all, these contributors are willing to get much more involved in the causes they support, not just throw money at it. And they deploy business practises to enhance the performance of the charities or non-profits they fund. This includes performance metrics such as formal business practises, long-term strategies, research and so on.

As a result, these people tend to make fewer donations but theyre larger so they can have a bigger impact on the recipient organization. But theyre also likely to transfer their business talent to the not-for-profit organization, helping them set goals and then achieve them.

As one business leader put it, great causes often overshadow the need for a charitable organization to be profitable in order to achieve its goals….Working with business people is a powerful way to do both.