Philanthropists always try to maximize their impact.
That’s why we have the maxim, “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
I call this the move from Philanthropy 1.0, which seeks quick fixes, to Philanthropy 2.0, which is about addressing a skills gap. While both approaches to philanthropy without a doubt are necessary, one obviously has longer lasting impact and a higher return on investment.
Continuing this line of thinking and the search for ever greater returns on investment, philanthropists, myself included, are moving towards Philanthropy 3.0. That is: philanthropy that makes durable structural changes in society – changing the very core fundamentals of how people interact.
Building on the fishing maxim above, Philanthropy 3.0 is about ensuring the man and his community have the right to fish in a body of water that contains fish, and have control of fishing implements that allow them to carry out such activity. It addresses the fundamental and structural root causes of poverty. These structural issues are outside a single person’s control and must be negotiated upstream.
Such investments allow not just a single person, or a single family, but entire communities to climb out of poverty.
This sort of philanthropy operates on a different timeline than traditional philanthropy. Philanthropy 3.0 doesn’t produce results as quickly as giving a child a vaccine. In fact, it isn’t even as fast as educating a girl. Often, it can take decades. But when successful, it can impact millions of families.
There are a variety of organizations that do this sort of work, often partnering with governments to implement laws and policies that create transformative, structural change. They are supported by philanthropists such as the Skoll Foundation and the Omidyar Network,which are looking to leverage their investment, maximize their return and redefine philanthropy.
Consider the work of Landesa, an NGO that works around the world to improve land rights for women and men. Landesa’s mission is grounded in the understanding that more than one billion of the world’s poorest people share three traits: they live in rural areas, rely on the land to survive and lack secure legal rights to the land on which they depend. Most either toil in other people’s fields for pennies a day or struggle on land that they temporarily control, but insecurely, with the constant threat of displacement. The coins they earn can never stretch far enough to allow them to buy their own plot, and they have little long-term incentive to improve the plot they currently farm.
Often, these deeply impoverished families can’t send their children to school or obtain other government services, like agricultural credit or inputs, because they are not landowners. As a result, they lack opportunity and are vulnerable to displacement, exploitation and calls to extremism. Without a fundamental change, their children and grandchildren face a similar future.
Philanthropy 1.0 calls for sending food to these families and perhaps some funds to send their children to school.
Philanthropy 2.0 calls for supporting efforts to teach these families farming or other skills.
Philanthropy 3.0 calls for the support of organizations with technical expertise to partner with governments to create more opportunity for these farming families through pro-poor laws, policies and programs.
Landesa’s approach is firmly Philanthropy 3.0. The organization’s attorneys, land tenure experts and economists focus on the system that gives rise to such institutionalized generational poverty.
In Landesa’s case, they focus on improving women and men’s rights to land. Secure land rights allow desperately poor farmers to invest in their land to improve their harvests, boost income and nutrition. Farmers will have a long-term interest in the land and act accordingly, promoting environmental conservation. What’s more women, long recognized as drivers of economic growth, can use this newfound economic empowerment to ensure their children’s needs are met – feeding them more nutritious foods and ensuring they are educated.
Earlier this year the government of West Bengal was able to provide more than 50,000 women with titles to micro-plots of land, thanks in part to years of partnership with Landesa. Now each of those women has a valuable tool they can use to help feed their families, send their children to school and live with pride and security.
Over the last four decades, Landesa’s partnerships with governments have helped more than 100 million families gain stronger rights to the land they rely on. What’s more, such cross-cutting, fundamental change helps improve the success rate of a variety of other Philanthropy 1.0 and 2.0 interventions.
I encourage all philanthropists and organizations dedicated to projects that fall into Philanthropy 1.0 and 2.0 to continue their vitally important good work. But I also encourage those who are exploring how best to make an impact in the world of philanthropy to dig down and address the fundamentals. Because, if we are going to make progress in our anti-poverty efforts, we can’t just trim the branches of injustice and poverty, we need to get it by the roots. And that is Philanthropy 3.0.
Christine Grumm, formerly President and CEO of the Women’s Funding Network, now heads the Chris Grumm Consulting Group. She’s dedicated to helping her clients unleash their potential to transform the world. She also serves as board chair of Landesa. Twitter: @Landesa_Global.
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