High impact philanthropy

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High impact philanthropy

• Steve Kirsch
• www.kirschfoundation.org

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Agenda

• About our foundation
• Why give
• 13 guiding principles for high impact philanthropy

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What is the Kirsch Foundation?

• 501(c)3 CFSV supporting organization
• 13M in assets
• Give 3M/year, 100 grants, 5 FT staff
• Goals ensure world safety, cure all major
  diseases, restore the environment, improve
  politics, reform education, support the local
  community, encourage philanthropy
• Treat the cause, not the symptom
• Wide range of activities clean air legislation
  (ZEV, CO2, RPS), nuclear disarmament, SORT
  treaty, NEOS, hair loss, diabetes, glaucoma, SCNT
  advocacy, campaign finance reform,

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Agenda

• About our foundation
• Why give
• 13 guiding principles for high impact philanthropy

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Why give?

• Enlightened self-interest
• To benefit everyone (including ourselves)
• To achieve certain goals we think are important
  to make the world a better place
• Ideal investment is both
• High leverage (ROI) and
• High impact
• Example NEOS research
• Occasional fringe benefits I get the first call!

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The best things in life arent all that expensive

• House
• Car
• Vacations
• Subscription to Fortune
• Replay/Tivo box
• Private jet
• Assets for guaranteed income for rest of your
  life
• So now what?

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So we had a choice...

• Sit on our assets
• or
• Put those assets to work in a way that will
  benefit
• ourselves
• our kids
• future generations of our family
• our friends and community

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Agenda

• About our foundation
• Why give
• 13 guiding principles for high impact philanthropy

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1 Diversify your endowment

• To have high impact, you must first ensure your
  longevity
• Many burned by investing large part of endowment
  in high tech

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2 Look for market opportunities

• Finding and funding the gaps (worthwhile
  projects that dont have funding) can be very
  rewarding
• Do your homework. Abundant new opportunities
  worldwide for high ROI
• Gates Vaccinations
• Funding campaign finance reform
• NEOS
• CFC Collaboration in medical research between
  researchers in different fields on a single
  project
• Hair loss research

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3 Be strategic, not reactive

• Decide on a vision you are passionate about
• Restore the environment
• Decide on a top goal
• Get California air quality into compliance with
  state and federal standards by 2030
• Figure out what strategies you will use to
  achieve the goal
• Higher CAFE standards
• California CO2 standards
• Incentives for commercialization of H2 FCV
  technology
• RPS legislation
• Congressional commitment behind a business plan
  for reducing our oil dependence

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4 Get involved in influencing public policy

• I spend 90 of my time on public policy
• All your hard work may be inconsequential
  otherwise
• Often well-funded commercial special interest(s)
  in opposition
• Hard, time consuming, easy to waste money
• Hiring lobbyist seldom the best approach better
  is to connect with a successful collaboration and
  learn
• Breakthroughs are worth waiting for, e.g.,
  recognition of the lack of any long term goals
• Can be very frustrating 100 Nobel winners say
  SCNT is good, but Congress may criminalize it

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Methods of influencing public policy

• Personally lobby via e-mail, phone, face-to-face
• Foundation is a 501(c)(3) so staff can lobby
• Establish a 501(c)(4) entity for going beyond fed
  limits
• Personally donate to candidates, parties, causes
  that will advance your agenda
• Electing the right President may be the single
  most cost-effective charitable donation that
  you can make
• Lawsuits
• PR events, e.g., STOP
• Help them set goals
• Be specific
• Heres what I want you to do
• Heres why you should care

My largest charitable grant recipient
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5 Encourage connection

• We very seldom do anything alone anymore
• We collaborate with other organizations to
• increase the amount of funding available
• disseminate our knowledge
• share our expertise
• We also encourage our grantees to work together
• CAMR 75 organizations
• CFC (w/Glaucoma Research Foundation)
  1.26M
• E2, NRDC, UCS,
• AC2 with Ploughshares Fund
• CHFB with 2 researchers

CFC researchers
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6 Leverage your endowment

• Program Related Investments (PRIs) give you a
  double-whammy impact
• Best way to solve a charitable problem may be
  commercial!
• Make money to use for the next problem
• Examples

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7 Invest in the best

• Goal maximally leverage capital by making the
  best investment decisions
• We publish our goals and grant criteria
• Grant spreadsheet Analytical, but very accurate
• Ensures we grant based oncompetence
• Saves time for both parties
• Tell people frankly why rejected.Holding back
  isnt doing anyone any favors.

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8 Be patient

• Dont get discouraged if at first you dont
  succeed
• Significant change takes time
• The bigger the impact, the longer you should
  expect it will take

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9 Make a long term commitment

• If you are doing something meaningful, it
  probably cant be done overnight
• Without a long term commitment, grantees will
  spend a lot of time fundraising
• Example Medical research
• Researchers spend a significant fraction of
  their time writing grant proposals

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10 Invest in people, not projects

• Study those foundations that are the most
  effective and copy what they do
• HHMI was our model for investment in people, not
  projects
• Think of your charitable investment like a stock
  market investment
• You dont tell Bill Gates which projects he
  should pursue

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11 Stay focused

• Dont try to do too much
• You will be much more efficient if you pick just
  one important goal and nail it
• Example Due to lack of funds and staff, we put
  our medical science research grant programs on
  hold

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12 Get personally involved

• Visit grantees
• Phone calls, letters, e-mails to further a cause
• Walk the talkI drive a ZEV
• Stay informed

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13 Challenge yourself to make the biggest
difference

• You dont have to follow my rules
• Challenge yourself to find the opportunities to
  make the biggest difference
• Look at your results and challenge yourself
• What did I learn?
• How could I have been more effective?
• Is my timing right?
• Should I be investing more today?
• Am I playing at a high enough level?
• Example
• High impact causes are almost always played at
  the federal level

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Summary

• Be proactive, not reactive
• Get involved in the public sector
• Invest in the most competent people, not projects
• Be patient and make a long-term commitment
• Encourage connection
• Challenge yourself to make the biggest
  difference are you playing at the right level?

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Why dont people give?

• Just earned it/want to enjoy it
• Risk averse want to ensure lavish lifestyle for
  rest of life,
• Lack of understanding of enlightened self
  interest
• If I dont, someone else will, so why should I?
• Focus all cycles on growing business
• Greedy/ego Measure self worth by net worth
• Lack of time
• Like writing your will or going to dentist its
  good for you, but low on the priority list
• Lack of knowledge of how to do it
• Never really thought of a cause that resonated
• Fear of making a mistakehit reply if you
  support clean air

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Why give young

• No tax advantages to giving after you are dead
• No personal satisfaction to giving after you are
  dead
• Giving can ultimately benefit you or your family
• Reduce current tax burden

• presbyopiahair losssleep apnealactose
  intolerancepsoriasisreceding gumsnear
  sightedtorn ACLtype I diabetes macular
  degenerationtinnitus

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Example

• Ten years from now, you might be diagnosed with
• Heart disease/stroke
• Cancer
• ALS, Parkinsons disease,
• At that time, starting a giving plan will be too
  late to have an impact on your health
• In hindsight, would you think keeping your assets
  sitting in stocks was the right move?

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Why Give? Summary

• We DO give to make a positive difference in our
  own lives and the lives of people we care about.

• We DO NOT give
• out of a sense of obligation
• payback
• civic duty
• because it is the right thing to do
• to create a legacy
• because it is fun
• because we have nothing else to do
• because we like to see our name in print
• to feed our ego
• to get our picture on the cover of Worth
• to win awards
• to win friends or social status (keep up w/Ken
  Lay)
• to atone for being wealthy
• to get invited to all the cool fundraisers
• to get preferred seating at fundraisers
• to avoid income tax

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Motivation

• "I'm one of those guys who's made a fortune at a
  young age and had the foresight to figure out
  that it's just a lot smarter to spend that money
  on ensuring the world is a better place than
  spending it on vacations, jets, homes, and
  expensive toys."
• -- Steve Kirsch, chief executive of Propel
  Inc.

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Another viewpoint

• what's wrong with jets, vacations and a nice
  home?
• Michele Kirsch