Do More Than Give - by Leslie R Crutchfield & John V Kania & Mark R Kramer (Hardcover)

About the Book

Based on "Forces for Good," this groundbreaking book demonstrates how the six practices of high-impact nonprofits apply to donors aiming to advance social causes.

Book Synopsis

How donors change the world through the six catalytic practices of high-impact philanthropy

Do More Than Give provides a blueprint for individuals, philanthropists, and foundation leaders to increase their impact. Based on Forces for Good, this groundbreaking book demonstrates how the six practices of high-impact nonprofits apply to donors aiming to advance social causes. Rather than focus on the mechanics of effective grantmaking, reporting, or evaluation, this book instead proposes that donors can become proactive catalysts for change by rising to meet the challenges of our increasingly interdependent world. Key principles include: going beyond check writing/traditional volunteering; advocating for change; leveraging business; forging peer networks; empowering individuals; leading adaptively; and developing learning organizations.

• Contains robust case studies depicting every type of philanthropy (corporate, community, operating, specialized, and large private and family foundations)
• Includes easy to use "Key Takeaways" tailored for donors at the "beginner" and "experienced" levels of catalytic philanthropy
• Authors are internationally-acclaimed philanthropic, nonprofit, and corporate social responsibility strategy experts who frequently speak and train on high-impact philanthropy

In good economic times or bad, this book provides guidance for givers to increase the impact of their charitable resources and go beyond check-writing to help solve problems and change the world.

From the Back Cover

Rather than focus on the mechanics of effective grantmaking, reporting, or evaluation, Do More Than Give reveals how foundation leaders, trustees, and individual donors can rise to address the complex challenges facing our increasingly interdependent world.

Written by Leslie Crutchfield, John Kania, and Mark Kramer (three philanthropy experts), Do More Than Give shows how a distinct breed of donors helps solve pressing social and environmental problems. The authors studied a diverse mix of high-impact foundations, corporations, and individuals. These inspirational stories range from the world's largest private foundations and corporations to families and community and place-based foundations. While some are wealthier than others, they all share a critical trait: They each do more than give.

Research for this book was grounded in the best practices revealed in the previous work coauthored by Leslie Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant, Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits (Jossey-Bass). Combining that framework with FSG's principles of catalytic philanthropy, the authors of Do More Than Give set out to understand how donors catalyze real change.

Review Quotes

This how-to book examines the modern role of philanthropy, moving from merely "giving away money" to becoming "active participants in the business of solving social and environmental problems." The authors examine six practices donors can undertake to change the world, an admirable goal, but much of their message gets lost in muddy jargon: "it is useful to think of collaboration as a spectrum of activity that ranges from loose coordination and informal information sharing to intense, focused collective impact campaigns" (see Figure 5.1). The message itself, and the book's organization, however, are right on the money. Each chapter concludes with a summary of key principles covered and includes reminders of important points. Some of their real-life examples are especially illustrative, such as the story about a San Diego foundation that asked residents what they hoped for in their community and used funds to create an environment tailored to those desires and needs. Also fascinating is their look at "adaptive leaders" who learn to influence beyond their control, take on a higher profile, and engage with media, a type of leadership the authors endorse but warn is "not for the timid...power hungry." (Mar.) (Publishers Weekly, April 11, 2011)

About the Author

LESLIE R. CRUTCHFIELD is an author and a leading authority on scaling social innovation and high-impact philanthropy. She is a senior advisor at FSG, a nonprofit consulting firm specializing in social sector strategy, evaluation, and research. Her previous book, Forces for Good, was recognized in The Economist on its annual list of Top Business Books.

JOHN V. KANIA is a managing director at FSG who oversees the firm's consulting practice. John is a featured author of the book Learning from the Future, and he has been published in Stanford Social Innovation Review and the Wall Street Journal. He is a former partner of both Mercer Management Consulting and Corporate Decisions, Inc.

MARK R. KRAMER is cofounder and a managing director at FSG, cofounder of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, and a Senior Fellow at Harvard University. Mark speaks and writes extensively on topics in philanthropy and corporate responsibility, and has been published in Harvard Business Review and Stanford Social Innovation Review.