Tell us about New Philanthropy Advisors?

I started New Philanthropy Advisors approximately three years ago when a philanthropist friend, a woman, asked me if I could help her find innovative projects to fund. Her focus was on refugees, and, in particular, helping refugees develop livelihoods. Within a week of beginning my research I discovered the whole world of Social Entrepreneurship, which offers solutions to global problems not by simply providing charitable funds, but by finding ways to help people help themselves.  Whether it is to develop and sell very low-cost agricultural pumps, which helps small plot farmers to double their yields, or offer micro-finance loans to women, who can purchase sewing machines to create goods or buy a cow whose milk brings in the money to send children to school, Social Entrepreneurs (and Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank is an excellent example), are leaders who create innovative, sustainable solutions.

So I dove deep into an exploration of the most promising non-profits around the world, but also found that it is women philanthropists, in particular, who are interested in these kinds of innovative solutions, many of which evolve from the building of closely-collaborative communities of do-ers and thinkers.  This “new collaborative approach” is actually old hat to most women, who, studies have shown, tend to build relationships—in other words, tackle problems by talking and brainstorming, rather than through traditional hierarchical structures.  So there seems to be a natural fit between innovative women donors and innovative non-profit leaders.

What was missing in this picture was a “guide.”  Someone who knew the social innovation landscape and players, and who also was dedicated to helping women donors who wish to be highly-engaged in their philanthropy connect with the right project, the right leader.  This right fit is magic—it maximizes the value not only of a donor’s philanthropic dollars, but of her ability to champion and advocate on behalf of non-profit leaders doing great work.  So that’s who we are at New Philanthropy Advisors—philanthropic guides for high-engagement women donors. We empower our clients with information and connections in order for them to become more strategic, involved grant makers.

And in the “breaking news” department, we’re in the process of designing a Women’s High Engagement Philanthropy workshop series to take women donors through a process of learning the basics of effective giving, understanding how to measure impact, participating in an international site visit and, finally, launching their own giving programs.  Stay tuned!

Describe your clients ?

Our first client was a very experienced woman philanthropist who ran her family’s small foundation.  We have been connecting her to leaders doing the best work and projects promising the most effective solutions for nearly three years. One of the projects she funded, for example, is an innovative village savings and loan system that has been piloted and adopted in developing communities in West Africa.  The program helps a village create a pool of funding from which community members take loans. One of the most gratifying aspects of the work for us has been to connect this client to the brilliant, passionately dedicated founders of great non-profits.  Witnessing the intense exchange of ideas and experiences at my client’s dinner table when leaders come to town (in this case Boston) is reward in itself for me.

Another client is a stay-at-home mom with an advanced degree in public health who had read a magazine article posing an idea for a new kind of primary health care delivery in developing countries.  My client wanted to jump in and try to make the idea reality, so she brought us on board to explore how to make this possible.  We did the research, identified potential partners who had expertise in this area, and eventually conducted an executive search for the right person to work for this client full-time as a teammate to help move the project forward.  They’re now going full-steam ahead and are launching their pilot project in the Dominican Republic this fall.

Another client is a self-described beginner with whom we’re working to introduce her to basic concepts and help her build a knowledge base from which we’ll start to create a giving program.  We’re working not only with her, but with her college-age daughter as well, so we have a chance to create generationally-appropriate approaches that knit the family together in a common mission.

So every client relationship seems to be different, but all share one thing: the client’s deep desire to make a difference, and her willingness to bring all her intelligence and skill, as well as financial resources, to the mission.

Any examples of how your clients have had an impact through their philanthropy?

Most of my clients are interested in providing emerging social entrepreneurs their seed funding, which doesn’t require a huge check, but does give the non-profit leader important early-stage funding.  This supports the organization, but also importantly, attracts other funders so that the impact of each dollar is magnified. My clients have supported such projects as a midwife training program in Nepal that has already saved hundreds of lives, has facilitated micro-lending in small villages in Africa to help villagers start small businesses, have convinced leaders in public health to create innovative health care delivery systems.  These are just a few of the kinds of impacts we see.

If someone wanted to become more actively involved in philanthropy how would you help them?

First, I’d give them a reading list of books, articles, and TED talks to read.  We have many on our site, www.npasite.net. Our approach is to help our clients learn who is doing the best work, what organizations have a good track record, what are the issues and challenges in any given field.  In particular, we go to conferences with clients and connect them with other philanthropists in their focus area, and also to the people who are doing the best, most innovative work. We help our clients immerse in their focus area, whether it’s girls education, maternal health, clean water, micro-lending, etc.

What kind of charitable work do you enjoy yourself?

I’ve been on the boards of cultural institutions in my community in the past—museums, community organizations, a domestic violence shelter, but I’ve just finished two years in San Francisco where I moved temporarily so my son could live with me until he finished high school in Mill Valley (he had moved there with his dad four years ago), so I’ve been a little removed from the kind of board and benefit event work I did for many years.  My work, though, is deeply involved in leveraging donor resources for maximum impact and I have to admit that, though not strictly charitable work, it is work that makes a real difference in the world and offers me deep satisfaction.

I do have a suggestion for involving the whole family in a charitable activity. I got my kids Kiva.org micro-lending accounts for Christmas a few years ago and they had a wonderful experience going online, choosing the projects they wished to fund with their $50 Kiva accounts, and tracking the projects as they developed.

What do you think holds women back from attempting something new?

I know from my many years as a full-time mother that many women suffer from a self-doubt that leads them to believe there isn’t a place for them in the larger world.  I hope that this isn’t the case with younger women, women who are in their thirties and early forties, most of whom have careers, but I see a fear of bold action, of stepping up and claiming the right to be in the game.  On the other hand, I also see women who feel so passionately about making a difference that they overcome their self-doubts.  They’re driven by a mission and nothing can stop them. I, myself, was one of those women.  As a full-time mom on the North Shore of Long Island I discovered a mission that changed my life (and wrote a book about it, Drawn to the Rhythm).  When I was on Oprah, she wasn’t at all interested in the domestic violence aspect of my book, Oprah was primarily focused on the transformative power of a woman finding a passionate avocation and pursuing it.

What are some key differences you see between women and men when it comes to charitable donations?

Women are more willing to use their intuition and take a chance on innovative approaches.  They also are more interested in creating strong relationships with the non-profit leaders they fund. The beauty of this is that they bring their whole kit bag of resources to the project or organization—not just dollars, but connections, advocacy, time, talent.

If you could get a large group of women together what one charitable endeavor could they have the greatest impact on?

Global women’s health and economic development. This is, as they say, the low-hanging fruit. Empower a woman and keep her healthy and you help the whole family, the whole community.  There are hundreds of great projects and organizations out there that support women, from clean cook stoves that reduce indoor air pollution and free women from the drudgery of collecting wood all day, to microlending to women’s groups in villages, to midwife training that helps save women’s lives in childbirth, on and on.  Some of the innovations are incredibly inventive and exciting, including one, Living Goods.org, modeled on the Avon Lady model of door-to-door selling.  Chuck Slaughter, the founder and a very successful for-profit entrepreneur, is a handsome burly dad from Sausalito who actually became an Avon Lady to learn the system, then adapted it to train women in Uganda to carry kits of basic medicines and household supplies to sell to the women in their communities.

Do you notice any differences between donors on the east coast versus west?

This is tricky because I’m now based in Boston with frequent trips to San Francisco.  My sense is that San Franciscans are, in general, more comfortable with entrepreneurial solutions and are more open to funding innovation.  Though the influence of Harvard and, in particular, the Media Lab at MIT, brings innovative thinking to what has, in the past, been a more traditional area of the world.

What do you do in your leisure time?

I’m a competitive sculler (rowing a one-person racing shell) and compete in the US and around the world.  I hasten to say to those who think you have to have learned this in college that I didn’t start rowing until I was forty-two!  So don’t ever think it’s too late, unless you want to be a prima ballerina… So I row, I cycle pretty seriously, I hang out with my women friends and talk children, men, and all the usual stuff.  I love to travel and am the only person I know who actually loves to drive across the entire US (which I just did last week in my move to Cambridge from Marin).

Salt or sugar?

Mmmmm, did you read the article in the New York Times last week by a guy who claims that the combination of fat, salt, and sugar in just the right quantities is utterly addicting to humans?  Yes, I can attest to that.  And now I’m in the land of Dunkin’ Donuts so I better keep rowing hard.  Seriously, I try to keep it healthy, though I don’t want to live a life with no pie, that’s a personal pledge. Life is too short not to eat pie every once in awhile.

If your house was on fire what would you grab?

The shadow box I have next to my front door.  My grandfather was a country physician in Kansas in the mid-1800s and he treated an ill member of a nearby Indian tribe.  He was paid with a beautiful basket, which I have mounted in the shadow box.  Yes, that’s about it. Everything else is replaceable, and though I love my family silver I could live with stainless and still have a full, rich life!

What do you do to release stress?

Have a glass of wine and a good conversation with friends.  Go to a foreign movie.  Row my little racing shell.

The one word that best describes you?

Dancer.  By that I mean someone who loves, thrives, engages in life joyfully according to the rhythms of my own life and the world.

What’s on your iPod?

Earth Wind and Fire and Justin Timberlake for the gym, Beethoven Piano Sonatas and other classical piano or chamber music, and here’s my newest fave:  a version of Fever by Joe Sample and Lalah Hathaway.

Your idea of perfect bliss?

One peak experience was rowing on the Thames in London with my doubles partner early on the morning of my 50^th birthday.  We had rowed Veterans Henley a few days before and my birthday morning was warm, still, and incredibly beautiful.  Doesn’t get better than that.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Having the best racing shell in the world.

Obsolete item you won’t toss?

All my grandmother’s opera gloves, of which I have about a dozen pairs.

Greatest misconception about you?

That I’m brimming with confidence. Like many women, I often struggle with self-doubt, with a bit of the “little me” thing. I try to set the doubt aside in order to get the job done.  Recently I met the Dalai Lama (well, I got to hold his hand for a moment…), but I heard him speak to the group.  He said that our job is to pursue our mission and not let anything get in our way–not anger, not fear, not guilt, not self-doubt. That’s what I try to do—get past myself and get on with doing what I can to empower my clients to enter the world and make a difference.

About Sara Hall

Sara writes and presents nationwide on Women’s High Engagement Philanthropy. She began to address the needs of an emerging group of energized, involved women donors in 2006.  In 2007 she founded New Philanthropy Advisors to empower women and their families with information, resources, technical guidance, and connections to the best non-profit organizations and leaders. In addition to developing customized giving plans, Sara and the NPA team create family retreats and domestic and international site visits, as well as offering group workshops nationwide on Women’s High Engagement Philanthropy.

Prior to philanthropic consulting Sara published Drawn to the Rhythm (W.W. Norton & Co, 2002) and in the years prior to her philanthropic focus she consulted for and spoke to groups and benefit audiences nationwide on values-based personal mission.  She has appeared on Oprah and other nationally-syndicated television, as well as nationally-syndicated radio.  Sara is an eight-time World Masters Champion in sculling (rowing) and has three adult children.    She divides her time between Boston and San Francisco.