What's the Best Way to Do Good?

When you're assembling your giving portfolio, don't just contribute to your usual charities. Think about supporting charities that don't attract so much press, those that might be outside your previous experience. And think about giving at times of the year when donations tend to drop off. Food banks have a lot of trouble just after Christmas. Don't forget that there are still hungry people out there in January and February.

Stacy Palmer (stacy.palmer@chronicle.com) was instrumental in founding the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the leading national publication on nonprofit affairs, in 1988.

Tom Reis

Program director
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Battle Creek, Michigan

Three years ago, I changed my job title to director of venture philanthropy. I wanted to show the world that at least one of these so-called "fuddy-duddy" foundations was paying attention to new models of giving back.

But what I found as I networked was that the new models weren't new enough. Philanthropy hasn't seen a new model since the days of Andrew Carnegie. He enabled individuals by providing the fishing rod, rather than the fish of simple charity. That was pivotal, of course. But philanthropy today still operates under that same idea: Make grants, empower people. Money only goes so far.

To drive lasting transformation, we need a more holistic model. Enough with the either-or bombast: Venture philanthropy is not the new magic bullet. What we need is a value exchange between traditional philanthropy and venture philanthropy -- something that will finally shake up the old model of "white man's social doing."

We live in a networked age, so philanthropists need to work with teams that are more representative of the global community. We need to sit around a table with a pair of wing tips, sandals, pumps, sneakers, bare white feet, bare black feet. And foundations have to become networked contributors, not just bankers. Funding is important. But we also need community conveners, networkers, brokers, and knowledge agents. With new players and more-collective approaches, we just might reach a tipping point in the world of philanthropy where we can build truly sustainable change. But to get there, we have to be disciplined thinkers.

That's why last September, I switched back to my old job title: program director. I like the notion of venture philanthropy, but it's time to be sober about it -- and to recognize what it can and can't do.

Tom Reis (tkr@wkkf.org) spent nearly five years in Indonesia as a senior program officer with the Academy for Educational Development before joining the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 1992. In his role at the foundation, Reis explores new opportunities to partner with successful entrepreneurs who are interested in philanthropy and social development.

Sara Mosle

Freelance writer
Dallas, Texas

People are afraid to volunteer. They think that getting involved is a slippery slope: The next thing they know, they'll have to sell their possessions and become Gandhi. The truth is that as a volunteer, you have to set limits. You have to be honest about how much time you can really commit.

If you do find time to volunteer, the important thing is to have realistic expectations about what you can and can't accomplish and to be honest about those expectations -- with yourself and with whomever you're trying to help. If you're a mentor, as I was for a group of inner-city kids for six years, you can, say, provide a child with a really fun day once a month or so. And that's not an insignificant thing. That's actually a great thing. But you probably aren't going to save anyone's life, and if you expect that, you'll likely be disappointed. If you want more -- perhaps to be a real friend -- you'll have to put in more time. There are no shortcuts. Friendship, with anyone, takes time.

I wasn't always honest with myself or with the kids about the extent of my own "flake factor," and I occasionally overpromised things. But after six years, I think we came to know one another and to accept one another's limitations. Sometimes you can prove a lot simply by showing up.

Sara Mosle (mosle@earthlink.net) worked for three years as a teacher in New York City's public schools. "The Vanity of Volunteerism," an article in which she describes lessons learned while mentoring inner-city kids, appeared in the New York Times Magazine this past summer. A former editor at the New York Times Book Review and at the New Republic, she now writes for Harper's Bazaar and the New York Times Magazine, among other publications. She is currently working on a book about an explosion at a school in eastern Texas during the 1930s oil boom. It is due out from Knopf in 2002.