Gift Hub

Why not giving turns rich people on and how you can profit from this trend

Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. - Matthew 13:12

Helpful, thoughtful article, "Why the Rich Don't Give More," by John Hawthorne.

I asked my boss, and generous patron, Mistress Candidia Cruikshanks, CEO of Wealth Bondage, she who owns us all, why she and her peers don't give more. First, she rightly corrected me, she has no peers. Then, she pointed out that giving is a waste of money when she can do more by investing in Wealth Bondage as a Social Enterprise Dedicated to the Public Good, and thereby be rewarded, as virtuous capital returns to her, in a virtuous circle, given how virtuous she is. Then she can reinvest in Wealth Bondage, and whirl the wealth around again. The world is just! "I am a job creator!," she said drawing back the curtain of her Overseer's Office  so we could see the laborers scurrying around down on the Wealth Bondage Killing Floor, as we call it, or The Consumer Freedom Package Fulfillment Center, as Candidia calls it. Finally, decorously drawing the curtains again so we had some privacy, she put her booted feet up on the desk, and had me drop to all fours and bark like a dog. She held out a dollar bill, as if it were a tidbit, and of course, I rose to my knees begging. I thought I could at least get the dollar for my trouble. But she laughed and tucked it in back into her cleavage.

"Sweetie," she said solicitously, "Did you really think Momma was going to give you something for nothing? You know that is not how the world works, little man, is it? If I were to feed losers like you scraps from the winner's table, you would develop habits of dependency. You would lose your dignity as a human being. Look at you now, on your knees crying like a baby. When I dangled that dollar, I thought you were going to pee your pants, you were so excited. O you did? What a hoot! Is that any way for a big boy to act? I am doing you a favor. Now get the fuck out my office and promote philanthropy in Wealth Bondage. Head down, numbers up. Make me some money off it. Private Banking, Family Foundations, all that crap. What do you think I keep you around for? Well, yes, I forgot! You do make laugh! O sweetie, let me take your picture, groveling like that. Perfect! Hold the pose. I have never seen anyone so pathetic. God, it turns me on." 

To cite John Milton, citing the parable of the talents, "They also serve who only stand and wait." I too have done my bit for the greater good. To make the great laugh is no small thing. Maybe that is God's master plan for the poor.

Idealistic Boomers as Financial Prospects

Excellent article by David Port, "Doing Well by Doing Good," in Boomer Market Advisor: The Boomer Retirement Experts. Quoted are several of my friends, including Drake Zimmerman, Charles Maclean, and  Rod Zeeb. Yes, as these thought leaders attest, the Boomers do respond well, even passionately, when asked where and how they would still like to make a difference. Once that conversation about meaning and purpose comes into focus, so do the goals that drive planning for retirement, investments, health insurance, life income annuities, life insurance, long term care insurance, business exit strategies (for business owners), and estate planning. (These are not philanthropic per se, but they represent the "pre-flight physical" that boomers should have before making any major life decision, including the decisions to retire and to be more active in the community, or to give big.) The key to making money in the financial services arena is relationships with successful people, particularly people in transition. Giving as a topic opens doors, minds, hearts, and wallets too. Where Boomers go, Advsiors are sure to follow. That bodes well for philanthropy.

Bust of Hyperagent Dredged from Riverbed

Admire nothing.

Caesar conquered Arles. A bust in his honor was erected. Two years later he is assassinated in Rome. His bust is thrown in the river since being a follower of the assassinated dictator would have been dangerous. Now divers find the stone head.

Today, we know that big funders are "hyper-agents," who, like great generals, found the worlds in which others live. I would think that would be a pretty big responsibility, and one that might make even the most powerful person tremble.

As the Greeks said, "Call no man happy until he is dead."

An Indigent Father's Advice to His Grown Children

Dear Children, Hope of my Old Age:

As you know, I have pretty much wasted my life in the liberal arts and in morals consulting to wealthy people who have zero interest in improving their morals. They go for liposuction, tummy tuck, PR makeovers, hair transplants, upscaling their spouse, or for personal trainers, dancing masters, tennis coaches, and life coaches, or for therapy, or for alternative healers, but they have no interest in buffing or burnishing their moral character per se, unless they have gone to jail and need something to show the parole board, and even then it is mostly about appearances. So, rather than pass on our family values to you, which would only perpetuate misery, I make a plea in your own best interest. Now that you are out of college and had a chance to see how the world works,

1. Go to Business School to get your MBA, or
2. Go to Law School, or
3. Study Accounting or Finance, or failing that,
4. Become a Fabulist (speech-writer, think thank thinker, publicist).

These are "coin of the realm." The market, the courts, financial statements, the management of money, or the management of public opinion are great goods - imperishable and always in season. Religion, if any, and taste, and wisdom,  or civic spirit, if any, are best left for your own private time with family and friends. If you follow the above advice you will have what is called a "Journey from Success to Significance." Given your ill-considered liberal arts education to date, that phrase may strike you as kitschy, and hopelessly almost tragically under-educated. So call it something else. The point being, kids, get rich first. The significance part is for later, if ever. Get yours first. And please budget a little for my old age. I don't see the morals consulting gig going anywhere good. And with the delirium tremens and with the $1,000 I owe at 38% per annun to the Pierre Omidyar's Social Loan Sharking Venture for the abscessed tooth I had extracted (an operation not to be repeated since it was my last tooth), my future is not what I had hoped it would be, when I first set out to be a Morals Tutor to America's Wealthiest Families.

Children: Remember, "Charity starts at home." A few thousand a year in my case from both of you (that is, say, $5,000 each, more when you can afford it) would make all the difference. My life has amounted to nothing, but the advice I give you now has cost me a world of hurt and is as good as gold. This sorrowful wisdom is your only inheritance. Yet, invest it wisely and you shall be rich beyond measure.

God bless, and please send money,

Your devoted Father.

Large Anonymous Donations

LA Times on anonymous gifts. Donors fear being the target of fund-raisers and gunmen.

Text to Pledge by Sophist Productions

Sophist Productions. See a YouTube video on "text to pledge" event fundraising. Pleasure, music, branding, sophistry, coolness, nightclub or corporate, hip hop, fundraising, what a mashup.

Identification as Motive for Giving

Dr. Paul Shervish (50 page pdf) is good on how giving flows from identification: We care about and give to those with whom we identify. I notice that some of low or middling status tend to look up the social hierarchy and identify with their superiors, or with celebrities, and wealthy people. Sometimes the poorest and least educated people, as well as middle income people, live a life half in fantasy, as if they were good friends with the celebs they see on tv, or with wealthy people. A truck driver may be furious that rich folks have to pay a death tax. Other people high up on the scale identify passionately with those at the bottom. It pains them that anyone lives in poverty.

The maid who serves in the biggest mansion may look down on those who serve in the smaller ones. And, many a wealthy dowager weeps for the death of her maid.

Sex and Mortgage Fraud

Catherine Austin Fitts on sex and mortgage fraud, then and now. The first of a series. She has seen much, and unlike other insiders, speaks out.  (She was Assistant Secretary of HUD in the first Bush administration, exposed a pervasive pattern of malfeasance, and found herself in what she calls her "enemy of the state period.")  Technically, I guess Catherine is not a philanthropist, though, in speaking out, she gave up just about everything. Her gift was sacrificial and not even tax-deductible. What a fool is she.

Planned Giving Design Center Revamped

The Planned Giving Design Center has been updated and relaunched. PGDC.com is a key resource for any professional working with wealthy clients or donors on planned gifts. Also, the site is useful to fundraisers as a window into the world, mind set, assumptions, and blindspots of professional wealth, tax, and legal advisors. You will quickly see that from within this world giving is all about tools, techniques, tax, finance, and legal fine points. It would make no sense in such a context to talk about donor psychology, ideals, aspirations, or about social impact. These "touchy feely"considerations are best left to the donor's Rabbi, or the Dumpster Dwelling moral philosophers who infest the highways and byways of The Ownership Society, practicing their liberal arts by stealth and dark of night. A better world has lower taxes for our clients. Now beat it! We are doing serious planning here, not vaporizing about social justice, health and welfare, the arts , or the environment.

Giving is Good for the Soul

"I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver."--Maya Angelou

If you resonate with the Angelou quotation, you will like the rest of Britt Bravo's post, Got the Winter Blues? Giving May Cheer You Up.