Phil at Gift Hub commented yesterday on the essay I wrote for OnPhilanthropy. He agreed with the thrust of the essay and added his own experience:
"Explaining the process of overall planning to a Planned Giving Officer recently, he said, in effect, "Sounds like it would help the donor and lead to long term gifts to our organization. But we need to raise $20 million within the next 6 months. Maybe we could have our giving officers raise the subject after they get a gift commitment." I can see his point. Many in financial services feel that way too: Sale first, then plan. You have to admit, though, that the logical order is Goals – Plan – Implementation, where the implementation includes financial tools, legal techniques and giving vehicles integrated into an effective and efficient whole, consontant with the donors big picture goals. Yes, we are all busy. Everyone is in a rush. The social end result is that we have many donors, few wise philanthropists."
I’ve spent the first month of this blog’s existence laying out my philanthropic world view. I’ve tried to create a context for understanding the needs, beliefs and actions of the various players in philanthropy. To date I have not spent much time diving into the actual practice of “tactical philanthropy”.
Phil and I may not agree on everything. However, his “logical order” of philanthropic planning (Goals – Plan – Implementation) is right on the mark. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to walk through the process of engaging in “tactical philanthropy”. I think of philanthropic planning as a seven-step process. You can see why I say Phil is right on the mark when you notice the similarity to his suggested three-step process.
The Process of Tactical Philanthropy
- Goal Establishment
- Legacy Planning
- Asset Analysis
- Tactical Analysis
- Implementation
- Investment Management
- Ongoing Monitoring
I’ll explain each step and talk about some useful tools and tactics beginning tomorrow.