A platform for donor collaboration, curated portfolios of grantees and innovative technology solutions for the issues families care most about.
By Wayne Farmer
As an advisor to family offices and foundations I often hear the statement/question from new philanthropists, “The hard part was making the money; how hard can it be to give it away?” And we usually respond, “it’s not hard to give it away, but it can be very challenging to make an impact.”
For many families just beginning their journey in philanthropy, or those who are pausing to evaluate how it has enriched or even divided their families, the process of giving money away with discernment, with rigor and discipline, can be a daunting and often frustrating endeavor.
Philanthropy can be a rewarding experience, but it can be isolating as well. There has not historically been a culture of collaboration between family foundations, one’s donor advised fund or between individual donors.
I had been working in this space for many years when I discovered Goodnation, a new organization that helps donors collaborate and deploy funds through a software platform that resembles their investment portfolio reporting.
Background
Around 2009 the Gates foundation began to invite families to gather and learn from their due diligence and the strategies they developed around public health. Before there was the Giving Pledge, there was a small called, affectionately, the Friends of Bill. Friends of Bill included the Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffet, which developed into one of the great collaborations in the field.
Advising foundations and wealth inheritors on their philanthropy and impact had been the primary focus for years. A confluence of events several years ago inspired the team to found a very specific set of services to help families collaborate and co-fund and enjoy multipliers of impact otherwise missed.
Wealth accumulation has become so significant recently, many philanthropists realize that being intentional in their collaboration with other donors allows them to pool resources,insight, and management.
Although a few high-profile donors, (talking to you Lauren Powell and Jack Dorsey) are making waves going it alone, many are not. Evidenced by donor collaborations in the headlines such as Bloomberg and Prince William, Ford and Rockefeller Foundations as well the success of a few other donor collaborations that are aggregated billions, the exciting trend is akin to the uptick in family office investment deal syndications and side-car vehicles.
What’s been missing in this space is something well proven in private equity: 1) carefully constructed portfolios curated and overseen by managers and 2) fintech platforms for reporting performance.
The Goodnation Advantage
Both of these elements when adjusted for the non-profit space resemble 1) cohorts of grant recipients assembled by subject matter into various “asset classes” from policy to grassroots direct services and 2) what we at Goodnation are calling a “Philtech” -platform, accessible to donors that reports on the synergistic impact of the portfolio (sum greater than parts) articulated by subject experts and analysts and the individual organization’s reported metrics, trends, x-factors and relevant developments in the field.
Several high net worth donors are using the platform to leverage their anchor donation into collaborative funds, that are attracting additional donations, leveraging and scaling their money even further.
In one case, the anchor donor’s initial gift of $2m has inspired an additional $70m from others.
Current Goodnation Smart Funds, as we call them, range from democracy building to criminal justice reform, with others soon coming focused on mental health, environmental issues and science and innovation.
So far Goodnation has inspired high net worth donors to thoughtfully donate $70M+ to impactful nonprofits. We look forward to growing this impact in important cause areas.