Give a little: the business of philantropy

Philanthropy isn’t a word you run up against every day. The image it conjures in the UK is either one of noble, heavily-whiskered Victorian gentlemen, or of a charmingly antiquated name for a little girl (even though she’d probably be teased just as much as Chastity, Charity and Chardonnay). But the rise of CSR – corporate social responsibility has inevitably become an acronym – has given new life to a word that originated with the Ancient Greeks.

Philantropy’s etymological roots are in a word meaning ‘the love of mankind’, although the Random House Dictionary gives a fuller modern definition:

altruistic concern for human welfare and advancement, usually manifested by donations of money, property, or work to needy persons, by endowment of institutions of learning and hospitals, and by generosity to other socially useful purposes.

the activity of donating to such persons or purposes in this way: to devote one’s later years to philanthropy.

a particular act, form, or instance of this activity: The art museum was their favorite philanthropy.

a philanthropic organization.”

Life isn’t, of course, about strict dictionary definitions. And our modern cyncism wouldn’t be unjustified in thinking that whatever ‘PR’ is short form, it’s not an abbreviation for ‘precision’. But yesterday’s Independent ran two ostensibly unrelated items that gave an interesting lesson in the broadest sense of leadership – and inadvertently provided a suggestion for businesses looking to invest a little in CSR, whether they’re doing it for public positioning or out of genuine concern.

In an extract from a speech given on awarding Microsoft’s Bill Gates The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament & Development, Sonia Gandhi (President of India’s Congress Party) said:

Mr Gates, your extraordinary success as a businessman has been overtaken by your even more extraordinary impact as a philanthropist. Your belief that every life, wherever it is lived, should be respected and valued, has led you to transform the destinies of millions around the world. Your foundation is an inspiring example of what can be achieved through an effective combination of magnanimous generosity and sound management.

Indeed, it is your example that has given meaning to the idea that successful businessmen can look beyond the bottom line, and even beyond conventional ideas of social responsibility, to actually conduct philanthropy on the principles of modern management. Your work has given currency to the term “venture philanthropy”, because what you have done is to invest, not just your money, but your time and your energy, as in a business venture.”

Bill Gates is, of course, enormously wealthy. As Margaret Thatcher noted, we remember The Good Samaritan because he had money. But tittering aside, it’s not the size of the endowment, it’s what you do with it that matters. There were other wealthy men in the Bible, but the Samaritan gave. And judging by an earlier quote, Gates is eminently business-like:

Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.”

He’s also a man who once said: “We’ve got to put a lot of money into changing behaviour” and has lived up to the intention. To return to Sonia Gandhi, it’s not simply the giving that distinguishes the impact of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:

Giving is wonderful; but, as you have shown, giving becomes more efficient and has more impact when carried out as a managerial project driven by a vision. Thus, the over-arching goals of, say, preventing HIV/AIDS or eradicating malaria are subjected to the same discipline of efficiency, cost effectiveness and review as in a business enterprise.”

The Foundation is not beyond (valid) criticism – although, given that there are entire websites set up to slagging Gates, this probably doesn’t surprise him: mixing business with philanthropy in a complex, global world was also going to run into conflicts of interest. Importantly, the Foundation doesn’t see its role as simply ‘giving’: the second of the Foundation’s 15 Guiding Principles makes this clear:

Guiding Principle #2: Philanthropy plays an important but limited role.”

The idea that ‘giving’ is simply about handing over money is waning: not yet archaically whiskered, but acquiring the patina of a past era. Yesterday’s Independent also ran a feature on the donations in kind made by the major accountancy groups to the Conservative Party – much of it in providing consultancy staff and services. The Conservative Party is, of course, not a charity, and leading accountancy firms will be well aware of the complex legislation – and political sensitivities – of their actions. We couldn’t possibly comment, but they will also be aware that the party is ahead in opinion polls and likely to form the next government in the UK: there is commercial advantage in ‘getting close’.

But there’s an idea here they don’t seem to be exploring. Any secondment is a learning experience for the seconded person as well as the receiving organisation. Or to quote one of the donor firms:

“For many years, the Government has encouraged the exchange of people and experience between it and the private sector,” a KPMG spokesman said. “We believe this benefits both parties by enabling the sharing of skills, which in turn contributes to modernisation and efficiency improvements in public and private organisations alike.”

Giving isn’t just more noble than receiving. Development of management and leadership is enriched by real-world projects that enable the emerging manager or leader to practise new skills in challenging environments: the outcomes of the secondment or project also enable success or failure to be measured. Even if you must see the world purely in numbers, getting ‘a better world’ and ‘development of emerging talent’ as a two for the price of one deal can’t be entirely unattractive. (If you’d rather go with entertainment, take a trip to the cinema to see the excellent Moon, but it’s implications for one possible future approach to human resources isn’t overly cheerful.)

If you’re looking for a channel to build the skills of your emerging talent and want to benefit the world while you’re at it, working with a charity might not be such a bad idea? Have a few words of encouragement and a song while you ponder that one …

For me, campaigning and good business is also about putting forward solutions, not just opposing destructive practices or human rights abuses.”
Anita Roddick

I’m not doing my philanthropic work, out of any kind of guilt, or any need to create good public relations. I’m doing it because I can afford to do it, and I believe in it.”
George Soros

If you think of life as like a big pie, you can try to hold the whole pie and kill yourself trying to keep it, or you can slice it up and give some to the people around you, and you still have plenty left for yourself.”
Jay Leno