I attended a donor event at the Jewish Museum of Australia which was exemplary in getting the attention of potential donors, providing useful information about philanthropy, telling personal stories and introducing a not for profit organisation to new audiences.

Shamal Dass, Head of Philanthropic Services at JBWere, was invited  to speak about different philanthropic vehicles and strategic philanthropy.  Shamal is of the view that while direct gifts can be strategic, usually they are merely transactional. He discussed the differences between Private Ancillary Funds, setting up a charitable fund or sub-fund within a community foundation, a testamentary trust or private charitable trust and how these can be more effective ways of “engaged philanthropy”.  Shamal suggested six steps for donors to achieve engaged philanthropy,:

1. Clarify your own mission – what do you as a donor want to achieve?
2. Get people involved – if you want to have a private ancillary fund, involve children in decision making, determining interest areas and goal setting (this is a good way for parents to learn what matters to their children)
3. Understand the organisation(s) you want to fund
4. Engage with the organisation(s) – ask them what they need
5. Fund capacity (often not popular but usually what is most needed)
6. Work with and learn from other donors.

By understanding your own values, you can work out better how you want your generosity and philanthropy to have impact.

Shamal also noted that the top 10 not for profit organisations in Australia are still the same ones as fifteen years ago (nb I didn’t get what the criteria for being in the top ten are) but that none of the issues they are addressing seem to be disappearing or diminishing.

His view is that by funding capacity you can gain the greatest leverage from your contribution.

He also discussed impact and measurement, whether social change is achieved, and whether the social change can be attributed to funders inputs.  A key question or perhaps challenge is who should be measuring impact – the not for profit organisations or their funders.  And if as a funder you want to know what the impact is – are you willing to pay for its measurement?

In May JBWere published Impact and Measurement which poses two key questions around measurement: 1) what should an organisation measure? Activity, Outputs, Outcomes, Impact? and 2) Recognising the costs of measurement and who should pay.  The paper argues that as the push for measurement often comes from funders, then funders should take on the responsibility for allocating greater resources and to refocus attention on their own performance and impact while reducing demands on nonprofit organisations to prove their impacts.

Shamal concluded his presentation by referring back to a diagram from JBWere’s Giving Trends document Australian Giving Trends: Stuck on the Plateau by John McLeod which notes that in 2013 nonprofit organisations received $107 billion in income in Australia through government grants, donations, sponsorships and earned income.  His key question is – what has that $107 billion in income achieved?

The second speaker at the event was Charles Justin, a former board member and Chair of the Jewish Museum, and the founder of the soon to be opened Justin Art House Melbourne.

Charles spoke about his personal philanthropic journey from his experience as a volunteer and donor with the Jewish Museum, his decision with his wife to set up a private ancillary fund to support both Jewish and non-Jewish causes addressing disadvantage and how they seek to align themselves with the organisations they support through their value proposition.

Charles’ main motivation was to be giving effectively within their lifetime, and not necessarily the tax advantages of a private foundation.  He also reflected on the act of giving as elevating, noting that the endorphins one receives through this can be the same as when having sex (much to the dismay of his wife who shouted from the back of the room for him to stop right there). Have a look here at an article about pathological giving and which parts of the brain light up when practising generosity.

The final speaker of the evening was Natalie Rathner from Australian Jewish Funders who talked about nurturing the culture of giving in the Jewish community and how Australian Jewish Funders works with donors and funders to realise their philanthropic vision (terminology I particularly like having been thinking a lot lately about philanthropy being about enabling donors to act on their values thank you Kay Sprinkel-Grace).

Natalie discussed how the Australian Jewish Funders are working at looking at impact investing, venture philanthropy, developing giving circles (aiming for 100 circles) and partnering with overseas organisations.

The evening was hosted by Rebecca Forgasz, Director of the Jewish Museum, and ended with an enjoyable tour of the exhibitions.

How does your organisation get donors and potential supporters together?  Do you combine different interests and speakers? What works best for you?

Sharon attended this event s a guest of NAB Private Wealth, corporate sponsors of the Jewish Museum.