Nonprofits "missing out" on surge in European venture philanthropy, says Carnie
Howard Lake | 12 October 2010 | News
Nonprofit organisations are missing out on securing funding from a new model of of European venture philanthropy, according to Chris Carnie, founder of prospect research firm Factary, because they remain too focused on traditional methods of fundraising.
He will be exploring how nonprofit organisations can build relationships with these new European philanthropists and maximise their fundraising potential at the International Fundraising Congress, taking place next week in Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands.
The model, whereby venture philanthropy (VP) funds invest in projects and measure the resulting social impact, with the ultimate aim of returning part of the original investment back to the VP fund, has been in existence for some time, but Carnie reports that it has gathered pace in the last year in Continental Europe, with renewed interest from a number of philanthropists.
This new wave, he says, is being spurred by research and fundraising practice and publications including La Nouvelle Philanthropie.
Attendances at the European Venture Philanthropy Association’s conferences have soared in the last year, despite its relatively modest membership base of 31 VP funds.
“These new philanthropists can invest in social change,” he said, “measure the change created, and in some cases get the money back so that it can be recycled into more social change. Mainstream foundations are taking an increasing interest in this area.”
He is concerned that some nonprofits will miss out on this opportunity. “Traditional nonprofits find it harder to understand the viewpoint of new philanthropists,” he said.
“Critically, nonprofits need to involve philanthropists at the problem stage, rather than just with solutions. They need to look at the services they offer, and the ways in which they measure the impact of their programmes. Many of the VP funds insist on a board seat if they are to invest, and again this can be difficult for many non-profits to accept. It is a paradigm chasm, with traditional nonprofits on one side, and wealthy, willing but frustrated philanthropists on the other.”
Carnie will be running a masterclass at this year’s International Fundraising Congress, highlighting the cultures of money and philanthropy in Continental Europe and the assumptions behind fundraising strategies.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.