May 29th, 2014 Power of Small Gifts Bold Conversation February 25th, 2010 February 25th, 2010 Levani Lipton
Meeting the people you help is a transformative experience. My mother and I journeyed to Malawi to visit a community-based organization in the countryside town of M’chenga. Leaving the capital of Lilongwe, we traveled along dusty roads and arrived at a one-room mud-brick school house. We were greeted by twenty-two chiefs who shook our hands and a lot of smiling children with runny noses. Peering inside the building was startling. There were no toys, no posters and no books. Nothing. The walls echoed with songs, drawn out from the faces of 150 HIV orphans, aged two to nine years; many from child-headed households. During the heat of the day, they were fed one cup of maize porridge by village housemothers. For many, this was their only meal.
We wondered what the chiefs would ask of us. Perhaps books and desks, school uniforms, a cooking stove? They requested seeds and fertilizer – to grow enough maize to feed the children more than once a day, distribute the harvest among the villages, and sell the rest for income. We gave a grant for $1500 to help the twenty-two villages.
We’re in our element with hands-on philanthropy; visiting literacy programs in Rajasthan, drawing pictures with HIV orphans in Ethiopia, and sitting under the shade of a tree listening to tribal women share best practices for raising goats. Our motto is: go where the needs are.
My grandmother started the Ananda Foundation in her eighties, with the intent of helping the world’s children. An avid traveler, Grandmama visited India and Africa in the 1950s. As a child, I was captivated by her stories. My earliest memory of inequity was at six years on a trip to India with my mother. I watched a child my age with one leg crawl along the median, circumventing traffic, pollution and stranded cows, begging for a couple of rupees to buy food to eat. This experience opened my eyes to global disparities.
When I was twenty-six, after I had been working abroad for NGOs, my mother challenged me, “You can work for someone else, or you can teach yourself and manage our philanthropic fund.” I use what I’ve learned in the field to direct our philanthropy; focusing on root causes of poverty and grassroots strategies used by NGOs, facilitating individuals to help themselves.
You don’t need a lot of money to do philanthropy. Dispel that myth. You must have a generous spirit and a commitment to give. Our grants range from $500-$5,000. You can do a lot with a little. Nearly 100% of our giving is to international NGOs. Being a foreign donor has risks. However, when you can impact lives, the benefits far outweigh the risks.
Though it can be challenging, I enjoy working with my mom. She has a big heart, while I’m a tough administrator and focus on outcomes, measures of success, and maximizing funds. I value my mother’s advice and she respects the way I make decisions. Having grown up in Hawaii, my mother and I are influenced by the concept of Ohana (family). For me, the people we help are not “beneficiaries,” I consider them my global Ohana. We recognize that poverty is never a choice; it is a product of circumstance. As philanthropists we’re in a unique position to impact human lives in a profound way. This is a privilege.
More on Levani Lipton:
Save Ka Iwi Coast is one of Levani's passion projects.
Read the Pacific Business News article - Oahu's Save Ka Iwi Coast Coalition gets $100K boost. Levani says, "We have to raise $500,000 to protect one of the most beautiful coastlines on the island of Oahu by August 30th. We are determined as a community to make this happen."
Levani is also highlighted in the Climate Progress article - Meet The People Raising $4 Million To Preserve Hawaii’s Coast. | West | 18 to 39 Years Old | $1-$10M | at least 50% | Inheritance |
| International | Passion | Joy | Posted on March 15th by Levani
A few books related to involving youth in philanthropy: 1) The Giving Family by Susan Crites Price 2) Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy by Alison Golberg, Karen Pittelman, and Resource Generation 3) Legacy and Innovation: A Guidebook for Families on Social Change Philanthropy by Stephanie Yang 4) The Giving Book by Ellen Sabin--this is a great interactive book to encourage children about the importance of giving... 21/64 is an organization with resources for engaging youth and "next gen" in philanthropy: http://www.2164.net/Aloha, Levani
Posted on March 12th by Levani
Resources for getting youth involved in philanthropy: For little ones The UN Cyber Schoolbus is a great introduction to global issues. http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/ It features learning modules on Human Rights and Country Profiles. For the teen to young adult group, I would recommend: Global Citizen Corps http://www.globalcitizencorps.org/. Craig Keilburger, the founder of Free The Children is a great example of a young person who involved in international philanthropy and development. http://freethechildren.org. A fun way to get youth involved would be to give them a gift card from Global Giving in which they can "invest" in a project. Visit http://globalgiving.org This provides an opening for involvement in international causes and philanthropy. Lastly, Resource Generation is dedicated to helping young people of wealth become involved in social justice movements. It provides a good network and resources on everything from creating giving plans, to investments, to family philanthropy. Check out http://resourcegeneration.org.
Posted on March 12th by Levani
Resources for international philanthropy: I wanted to add a few resources for people new to international giving. A great way to start would be to go through an intermediary organization. These are US nonprofits who do the groundwork; identifying reputable local NGOs. A great organization is: The Foundation for Sustainable Development. http://fsdinternational.org/. A good feature of this group is that they have traveling giving circles in which you can travel to the field to visit projects. Grassroots International is also a good organization. http://grassrootsinternational.org. I would also recommend the International Development Exchange in San Francisco. http://idex.org. Learning from other organizations making international grants is helpful in determining your own international philanthropy. A great network for international donors is Grantmakers without Borders. http://internationaldonors.org.
Posted on March 11th by Levani
Maryann,
This resource is awesome! Thank you. I will share it among colleagues and those new to philanthropy. I am also keen to learn more about the conference call on philanthropic travel.
Aloha, Levani
Posted on March 11th by Levani
Hi Maryann,
Yes. I agree with the trends that you have noted. I think the best motivator is experiential. My mother took me out into the world at a young age and as a result I was acutely aware of disparities as a child, (though I didn't label it at that time). I remember that I was inspired enough to know before I was 10 that I wanted to have a career based on service "when I grew up." Exposure to other cultures needs to start young. We need to bring our children up to recognize that differences do exist so that they don't "look at their own belly button," as my grandmother would say. Children also have open minds. When I was a college freshman, I remember taking my adopted brother to volunteer for a homeless feeding. He was 5 years old. I remember the people saying: "Thank you young man." And at that moment, I realized my brother did not have bias or stigma--as a child he saw them as people and as we should. If this could be nurtured in our children, then their perspectives as adults would be different and a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings and conflict could be minimized.
Posted on March 11th by Levani
Hi Clint,
That's wonderful! I enjoy learning about what other Bold Givers are doing because it serves as an affirmation. I would be happy to share thoughts for your website. I have lots of inspiring stories. It's what keeps us going. In solidarity...Aloha, Levani
Posted on March 11th by Levani
Mac,
My grandfather was frugal. In fact, the only monies that we were aware that the gave was to support trees in Israel. My grandfather came from an impoverished background, had a 7th grade education and worked his way to success. When he passed away--that was when a whole word opened up because my grandmother was a giver. One of the first things she did was to set up the philanthropic fund. I think it's important to recognize that it is totally valid for your father to feel that he worked for his money and he should spend it for himself. The "in" might be to share with him that using his money that way he wants can also be supporting something important to him...Find an organization that has all those elements you mentioned (one that is recognized, has good documentation, track record) etc. Ask him if he had to "invest" in a cause, what might that be? You can emphasize that perhaps by working together and leveraging each other's funds & skills you could do something purposeful...In that way you could build your relationship and reinforce his contribution. People want to know that their voice counts--this happens with young people and mature people alike. For me, I often take this positive approach with people. I try to identify what they are "experts" at and use that to get to the core of what they care and are passionate about... Aloha, Levani
Posted on March 11th by Levani
Hi Mac, I would definitely agree with Anne that volunteering is a good way to become engaged in giving. You may want to check out www.idealist.org and www.volunteermatch.org for opportunities. Also, there are groups such as Grand Circle Travel who operate trips overseas for mature travelers and support local, community based projects among communities visited on a the trip. They have a separate foundation largely supported by funds from travelers. It gives participants a way to give back and feel involved in the communities they visit. http://www.grandcirclefoundation.com/Aloha, Levani
Posted on March 11th by Levani
Hi Kyle,
Our philanthropic fund operates similarly to a donor advised fund of a community foundation. Our grant range is $500 - $5,000 USD. Grant guidelines are available on our website. Our grants fall into two categories: 1) We give to US non-profits working overseas (such as Partners in Health) and 2) we give grants to foreign registered NGOs. We have found this process works well for small donors because we can make recommendations on where to put our funds and the community foundation does due diligence. A board of directors has to approve each grant request. In my role, I collect information on need and services provided by an NGO to determine if a project warrants our support. Lastly, a benefit of doing small grants this way is that overhead is low, @ 6% of each donation is taken to cover admin costs and processing fees of each grant are minimal. This ensures that at least 90% of our funds go directly to the field to support programs. Hope this is helpful. Aloha, Levani
Posted on March 9th by shubie gulati
Levani, I have known what you and your family have done for a long time. To visit your site and read about your projects ( some I know of and many I do not...) fills me whith a sense of urgency to give back. I loved seeing your mom last month. More soon and upwards and onwards!
Posted on February 26th by Clint Wilson
Levani, my wife and I were on the call and loved your story. We give 100% of our business profits away in small loaners to our Philippine Cafe' members and your statement of "You don’t need a lot of money to do philanthropy. Dispel that myth." is right on the money.
I too took my Great Grandmother's advice and chose to make a difference with the resources available to me. We plan on following your works and would love to highlight them in our new site coming up this next month and on our Facebook page:
http://bit.ly/CnCCafeFacebook
Thanks so much for sharing your story,
~Clint & Cristy
Posted on February 26th by Mac Liman
Listening is indeed key. Some of the situation, with my dad in particular, is that his relationship to money and how he feels about his wealth seems stuck in a place of 1) justification and 2) scarcity. So when we talk about giving, rather than being able to go to where he is excited or passionate (issues which he claims are "simple" or "unemotional"), things seem to lead back to "I earned this, it's mine, giving it away feels like saying that I don't deserve it for myself" or "I don't have enough to give anyway; what if it all disappears and I don't have enough for myself?" (This is of course an oversimplification, but also represent some general themes in our conversations over the past couple years.)
So listening and finding the pieces that are exciting and opening rather than judgmental or scary is where we need to go. This is hard for the two of us because of how complicated our relationship is and how different our values are. Which is why I want to be able to offer him support/conversation with others--not just me.
I know that something he is passionate about is strengthening our relationship and becoming closer. It seems that money and giving together can be a part of that (given what Levani and so many others have shared!). But I also think that I need help to go there with him. And he sure does respond well to stories and suggestions that feel "credible" to him i.e. resources that are widely published, professional language, father/daughter stories from a similar context/cultural background to him.
Does that spark any ideas? I could write a novel right here about my relationship to money and my dad and hopes for redistribution of wealth and healthy family connections!!
Thanks!
Posted on February 25th by Anne Ellinger
What a great question, Mac. Tell me more. Off the top of my head, I'd say that listening a lot is key. Have you asked your father or aunts about ANY giving or volunteering they've enjoyed, now or in the past? About what makes them angry when they read the paper, or gives them hope? About what might might draw them to give more, or what turns them off from it?
There are definitely donor networks that involve people in their 50's thru 80's, but these are for people already excited about giving. Tell me more about your situation and hopes and I can suggest more specifics.
Posted on February 25th by Maryann Fernandez
Sorry, just two additional resources for everyone regarding philanthropic travel.
1. An article that may be helpful "6 Questions to Ask Before Planning a Philanthropic Trip"
http://www.philanthropyindaba.com/PhilTrvl.pdf
2. I am in the process of finalizing the details of a conference call on philanthropic travel with the National Center for Family Philanthropy in which we will include the thoughts of a foundation staff member and a family member. Tentatively, we are looking at early April, but details should be available on their website soon.
Posted on February 25th by Maryann Fernandez
Levani, thanks for sharing your ideas about how to engage young family members who are still unsure about what issues they are passionate about. Engaging and exposing the next generation to a variety of "stimulus" like volunteer opportunities and lectures and groups of young social entrepreneurs is just what we are doing for clients, so I'm glad you agree. I think having the opportunity to "process" these experiences through discussion and more firmly connect it to building independence and confidence in their thinking is also key. This does, however, require more consistent engagement throughout the year.
Two trends that I am noticing is 1) while training the next generation about philanthropy is of importance to parents, lately I have been finding that giving their child exposure to a variety of people and situations from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds is equally as important (one family wealth consultant commented that it may serve to mitigate the feelings of entitlement), and 2) many young family members are eager to explore career opportunities in the social enterprise arena.
Posted on February 25th by sue pucker
Community Foundations also give internationally through donor-advised funds! ie. TBF's Ansara Family Fund to Haiti
Posted on February 25th by Mac Liman
Thanks for talking about how to engage young people in giving. Can you offer resources or suggestions for situations where the reverse is true? I am passionate about giving and invested in social change, but my father and aunts and the generations before me are not involved. How are people engaging those older than themselves?
Posted on February 25th by Kyle Reis
I'm curious what is Ananda's average size grant or grant range? Do grants you make outside of the US count as part of your organization's payout?
Posted on February 23rd by Anne Ellinger
Participants in the conference call with Levani -- feel free to write questions and comments here during the call. That way all your questions can be addressed. What call am I talking about? Thurs Feb 25 at noon eastern time. Register at http://www.bg-levani.eventbrite.com
Posted on February 23rd by Carminha Delana
Levani,
Very inspiring!! You and your mother make our planet a better place!! Thanks girl!!
Posted on February 23rd by Simo
we have the challenge to show and prove that small funds, if well designed and measurable in terms of impact and expected result, make the difference too. More and more emphasis has been given to scaling up of resources but this does imply a better impact but only "more". How can small donations be link up with bigger bulks and how to ensure the impact, this is the challenge of Levani and all other folks working with less but aiming for the best
Posted on February 23rd by Marcela
Levani,
As I have mentioned before, it is admirable what you do, and you are right, you don't need to have tons of money to help, you can start little by little. You are an excellent example to follow.
Take care my friend and wish you all the best in the world.
Posted on February 22nd by Cate Waidyatilleka
Levani, you inspire me so much with how much you have done for so many; wow, how your creativity and energy broaden your impact. You make me proud. I'm thrilled you're connecting to others in the next generation. Aloha! |