Goldilocks and the Three Boards
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[Note: This is a slight updating of a post I did nine years ago. Alas, the content is still current!] As fairy tales go, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” is…
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The “Charity” of Elon Musk
Nobody who has followed Elon Musk’s rampage through the world of business, social media, and politics would be surprised to learn that his approach to charitable giving has been a…
Read More Board Member Casting Call
As we approach this year’s Academy Awards, I’ve been thinking about the best picture of 1957, director Sidney Lumet’s “12 Angry Men.” If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth watching.…
Read More The Who-bodies Blocking Donor-Advised Fund Reform
Our grandson Jack is a few weeks shy of turning three, but he’s extremely verbal and bright – or at least this doting grandfather thinks so. During our July family…
Read More The Inglorious Life and Sudden Death of AmazonSmile
Last week’s big news was that AmazonSmile is closing shop after ten years. What can you say about AmazonSmile? What can you say about a corporate behemoth that undertakes an…
Read More What’s on the Agenda?
[Note: An edited version of this article appeared in Harvard Business Review on October 12, 2022.] If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it, well, a dozen times: “We almost never…
Read More The Rich (Organizations) Get Richer
The boarding school I attended recently announced a $25 million gift from one of its trustees. I don’t begrudge my alma mater its big gift. I’ll also note that the…
Read More Staff Salaries Matter
Everyone values the work that nonprofits do. But not everyone values the people at nonprofits who do the actual work. I’ve repeatedly encountered nonprofit boards that fail to invest appropriately…
Read More This Spin Won’t Wash
November marks the tenth anniversary of Professor Ray Madoff’s New York Times op-ed calling for new rules that would accelerate grantmaking from donor-advised funds. Over the years since, as the…
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