Introducing Tactical Philanthropy Advisors

I am pleased to announce the launch of Tactical Philanthropy Advisors. Over the past three years, I have written the Tactical Philanthropy blog while providing advice to high net worth donors within the context of a wealth management firm I co-founded in 2003. With Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, I am making a bet on a new business model for the philanthropy advisory industry that I believe fits the needs of high net worth donors.

Tactical Philanthropy Advisors has established working arrangements with Schwab Charitable, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund®, Calvert Giving Fund and Foundation Source to provide administrative, back office services to our clients. We will provide comprehensive, ongoing advisory services for clients with $1 million to $50 million or more in philanthropic assets.

Here’s a few links to give you a quick overview of the new company:

• The press release we sent out today.
• Our services for donors.
• Our services for professional advisors.
• The small team I’ve put together, which includes Bill Somerville of Philanthropic Ventures Foundation.
• A short teaser on how we’re working with Jed Emerson and IDEO to build a Tactical Philanthropy Knowledge Network.
• An overview of how we’re working with Exponent Partners – the firm that developed the PULSE social investment tracking system for Acumen Fund and a Salesforce® powered grant management system for Google.org – to build a grantmaking and impact reporting platform geared to the needs of individual donors.
• A set of FAQs on the new firm.

The past week and a half of building up to this announcement was a lot of fun. I greatly appreciate the hugely positive response from readers and the many encouraging emails and comments I received.

The blog you are used to reading is not going away. While I’d like to tell you a little bit more about the new company over the next few days, I’ll be returning to my normal focus on chronicling the second great wave of philanthropy next week.

One of the exciting aspects of launching the new company is that we’ll be in a position to host more events like the Tactical Philanthropy Forum that I held last year. I’ve written a lot about how I thought the social capital markets should develop and now I’m in a position to create new partnerships, structure new deals and roll out new concepts for helping advance philanthropy.

You’ll note that the company is a for-profit firm. We’ve incorporated the needed language in our operating agreement to pursue B-Corporation status as soon as possible. Tactical Philanthropy Advisors is committed to creating social impact through advancing the field of philanthropy. In addition to working directly with clients to achieve this goal, the company has committed to support the work of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, a public charity that helps donors of all levels of wealth to engage in creative philanthropy. Philanthropic Ventures Foundation is led by maverick grantmaker Bill Somerville, author of the book “Grassroots Philanthropy.” The firm has also engaged the services of Philanthropic Ventures Foundation and Bill Somerville to design grassroots philanthropy solutions for Tactical Philanthropy Advisors’ clients.

We’re not launching Tactical Philanthropy Advisors thinking that we have built the final version of our business model. We agree with a phrase frequently repeated by Google employees: “Launch early and iterate.” Yet we’re not in “beta” either. The team I’ve assembled has deep knowledge and experience working with high net worth philanthropists.

I point out our desire to engage in rapid iteration because I’m looking to you for suggestions. The Tactical Philanthropy community can already take a lot of credit for helping mould the business model as it stands today. I’d love to hear your take and continue to collaborate as we work together to advance philanthropy.