Tips for Practical Giving

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Business entrepreneur Jay Coen Gilbert is one of the main drivers behind creating a new corporate model, the B Corporation, for firms with a social or environmental mission. “The ‘B’ stands for benefit and is inspired by Gandhi’s famous line, ‘We must be the change we seek,’ ” reports OnEarth (Winter 2009). Firms are certified by the B Lab, a nonprofit organization, if they meet dozens of performance standards in areas including environmental impact, employee relations, and their benefits to local communities.

“Business is the only institution in society that is capable of solving the social and environmental challenges in front of us at the speed and scale required,” Gilbert tells OnEarth. So far, 163 companies have been certified; organizers want the B Corp to win legal recognition as a new type of corporation with its own tax regulations and government incentives.

Another innovator in philanthropy is a little Internet organization you might have heard about, Google Inc. The corporation’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, is also a hybrid with a unique structure: It doles out many of its charitable grants through a related but legally separate nonprofit entity, the Google Foundation, while also investing in for-profit ventures with social and environmental benefits.

“The structure that Google has established allows me to play all the keys on the keyboard,” Google.org head Larry Brilliant tells Kosmos (Fall-Winter 2008). The foundation has incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, but Google.org has not. This way, Brilliant explains, “You can buy a company or start an industry or give a fellowship or lobby. It’s given us more flexibility to think of ourselves as not restricted in the way conventional philanthropy is.”

Where to Give

Seek out programs that help people through hard times. With the social safety net more frayed than ever, Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org) suggests giving top priority to organizations that help people get enough to eat, pay their rent or mortgage payment on time, and keep their electricity turned on: “If they are to meet the growing needs in their communities, charities like food banks, rescue missions, and utility assistance charities need an influx of contributions.”

Remember to give to unglamorous causes. Organizations that serve unpopular causes and marginalized people—drug addiction, men and women in prison—often struggle even when the giving is good; in these lean times, they need your help more than ever.

Support your favorite media outlets. This is not a plug! A flagging economy hits advertising hard, which puts an extra squeeze on already-struggling news organizations. If you want them to keep doing good work—and reporting on the ups and downs of the recession we’ll all be struggling through—don’t forget to resubscribe to the periodicals you most value.

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