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ABOUT But I've found that many personal pages from artists and authors, executives and business owners blather on. They describe how cute they were as babes, or their seminal moments at ivy clad (or granola-filled) colleges, or their first lost love or -- the Oscar moment -- why their dad or therapist or partner was the true inspiration for them becoming just the best ever FILL IN THE BLANK that they could be. Point is: I'm not gonna gush on about how smart and famous and credentialed I am. Or what I eat for breakfast. Here's what I do know. In 2003, Town & Country magazine asked me to write a short feature about how to start and run a family foundation. As a business writer, besides corporate and entrepreneurial issues, I've covered the full range of personal finances topics, from nuts and bolts about drafting a will to the emotional decisions and hardships of finding funds for a child prodigy's passion. Every such story begins by putting out the microphone. I started calling family foundations around the country, organizations of all sizes, endowments, missions and years in operation. I spoke to mutual fund pioneer Sir John Templeton, who died in 2008, about how he chose to grant roughly $40 million a year to fund "scientific research into spiritual matters" (2003 dollars!). I talked to Jason Chapin, son of troubadour Harry Chapin, who died at age 38 in 1981, about honoring the singer's work on behalf of the homeless and world hunger. I talked to best-selling novelists, scions of multigenerational wealth like the Hiltons and anonymous offspring of the rich and famous, like the daughter of Liberace. As interviews piled up and family stories about giving and creating legacies grew, I clearly had plenty of material for my short feature. But I couldn't stop calling different kinds of people who ran different kinds of foundations to hear more tales of how and why and when and whether families engaged in giving. I got hooked. And I remain that way. Why?
CREATING THE SPRINGBOARD |
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But that's only the armchair psychology version. Behind that, I find the terrain of philanthropy enormously compelling -- a minefield of people's feelings about the world, about how they view money, about their self-worth, about what's important to them and their loved ones, about what makes anyone feel effective and purposeful, and -- perhaps the key -- how giving is the way we implement hope. Philanthropy is an extraordinary prism for looking at human endeavor and passion and optimism. Then there's the journalist factor. In 2009, U.S. charitable giving hit $303.8 billion, down from the record set in 2007 of $314 billion, but still an impressive showing. The third sector, as it's called, has become a huge and influential industry although very few media outlets cover it -- except around the holidays. I find it astonishing that so much money and so much power is simply overlooked. So I've moved in to cover the issues and news. Finally, there's the woman angle. I've been covering the rising wealth and success of women in corner and political offices for years. Although the past five years have seen radical changes in the profile of donors and their giving styles, philanthropy has not yet shed its black tux, glam gala image. It remains a male phenomenon, with the serious periodicals, like Forbes and Fortune, still covering the arena simply by running annual lists of whose is bigger -- meaning the amount of money people give away, of course. I want to chronicle and advocate for the growing engagement of women in philanthropy. There's deep and persuasive evidence to show that when women do become involved, society changes for the better (hint: see my homepage). I'd love to hear from you about any or all of these issues. Send me a note by registering on my mailing list. Meantime, consider giving to something or someone you care about. Best wishes, |
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