The Everyday Philanthropist

Dan Pallotta’s events have raised over half a billion dollars for charity and were the subject of a Harvard Business School case study. He has been a featured contributor to Harvard Business Review online. His TED talk on charity has five million views. His seminal book on giving, Uncharitable, is the bestselling title in the history of Tufts University Press. He has given over 400 talks on charitable giving in thirty states and ten countries.

Introduction I

Part One The Good Citizen: Philanthropy and You 1

Ch 1 Why Charity? 3

Ch 2 Why Giving? 9

Ch 3 You Are a Philanthropist 13

Ch 4 The Difference Between Acute and Chronic Issues: Empathy Today vs Strategy for Tomorrow 17

Ch 5 Is There a Difference Between Giving to a Nonprofit and Giving to a Charity? 21

Ch 6 Are All Cancer Charities Alike? Services vs Solutions 25

Ch 7 Why Do You Give? Do You Really Understand Your Motives? 29

Ch 8 What’s Your Cause for Life? 33

Part Two Good Information Gathering 39

Ch 9 Find a Great Organization 41

Ch 10 The Three Essential Questions 43

Ch 11 First Question: Goals 47

Ch 12 Second Question: Progress 51

Ch 13 Third Question: How They Improve 55

Ch 14 Don’t Rely on Others for Simple Answers 63

Part Three Good Information Filtering: Don’t Be Duped by Dumbed-Down Data 67

Ch 15 Questions NOT to Ask 69

Ch 16 Stop Asking About Overhead 73

Ch 17 Overhead Ratios Tell You Nothing About Impact 77

Ch 18 Overhead Ratios Weaken Charitable Services and Programs 85

Ch 19 Overhead Measures Discriminate Against Underdog Causes 91

Ch 20 Overhead Measures Weaken Civil Society and Diminish Civic Engagement 97

Ch 21 Overhead Measures Hide Unfair Differences in Accounting 105

Ch 22 Overhead Measures Discourage Growth 113

Ch 23 Demanding Low Salaries Undermines Your Strategy to Help the Most People 117

Part Four Good Media Consumption: Monitor Truth in Media 121

Ch 24 Be Responsible and Rigorous When Learning About Charities in the Media 123

Ch 25 Case Study: CNN and Boys & Girls Clubs of America 125

Ch 26 Case Study: The New York Times and Wounded Warrior Project 133

Ch 27 Case Study: ProPublica on the American Red Cross 141

Part Five Are We Good? 151

Ch 28 It’s Time to Rethink Charity 153

Ch 29 Recap 161

Ch 30 You 165

Ch 31 Afraid You’ll Forget? 167

Ch 32 Want to See It on Film and Video? 169

Thank You 175