Bruce DeBoskey is an award winning, nationally-syndicated author of columns and articles in newspapers and magazines such as The Denver Post, The Miami Herald, the Chicago Tribune, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Albuquerque Journal, the Sacramento Bee, the Kansas City Star, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Charlotte Observer, the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, 5280 Magazine, the Costco Connection, Boston College's Corporate Citizen Magazine, The Denver Foundation's Give Magazine, the Boulder Jewish News, Investments & Wealth Monitor, Company Week and many more. Bruce's columns are distributed by the Chicago Tribune News Service to over 600 newspapers and other news outlets across the U.S. and abroad.
With record levels of giving, new approaches to marshaling philanthropic assets for impact, and better approaches to philanthropic strategy, 2015 was a great year for philanthropy. This trend will continue in 2016. Increasingly, leaders in businesses, foundations and families understand that philanthropy is more than the merely transactional act of writing checks to favorite nonprofits….
When it comes to corporate giving, the news is encouraging. More U.S. companies are engaging in smart and strategic community investment initiatives — and seeing positive results from their efforts. The 2015 Community Involvement Study conducted by Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship found that: Corporate community involvement contributes to key business goals — including…
Soon, people across the United States will gather around the Thanksgiving table with family and friends to indulge in abundant, delicious food — and to give thanks for their many blessings and freedoms. Typically, we eat and drink to excess and enjoy leftovers that will last for days. Dinnertime conversation ranges from expressing gratitude for…
Impact investing is one of the hottest topics in the philanthropic sector. It involves investments made with the intention of generating not just a financial return, but also a social or environmental impact — the double bottom line. Until just recently, some foundation directors with an interest in impact investing felt restrained by their fiduciary…
Over the past few years, philanthropic leaders have begun to successfully challenge the “overhead myth” — the belief that high administrative costs reflect a charitable organization that is poorly run and not worthy of support. The well-intentioned and generous family, corporate and foundation donors we regularly work with often recite versions of the overhead myth. They tell us,…
When meeting with affluent family clients, advisers frequently invoke the warning: “shirtsleeves-to-shirtsleeves in three generations.” This popular quote strongly suggests that, without careful planning, a family’s wealth will be dissipated by the time it reaches the grandchildren of the wealthcreating generation. It is thought to derive from the old English proverb, “there’s nobbut three generations…
Over the past five years, I have written 60 monthly “On Philanthropy” columns for Sunday’s Denver Post. These columns covered a broad range of topics related to individuals, families, businesses and foundations — and how they can approach their philanthropic initiatives with strategy, thoughtfulness and effectiveness. In my role as a philanthropic strategist, I’ve gained…
Last week, the Clinton Foundation held its second CGI America conference in Denver. Led by former President Bill Clinton, the foundation is one of the most prominent in the world — and among the most controversial. In a wide array of direct initiatives, the Clinton Foundation brings together businesses, governments, nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, and…
Some personal relationships last a lifetime. Many of them end, however, and people move on. The same is true in funding relationships. Donors and nonprofits must anticipate and prepare for the eventual end of most grants. Major gifts are the lifeblood of nonprofits — enabling them to pay overhead, hire workers and implement the programs…
Increasingly, charitable donors are interested in “impact investing” with their philanthropically committed capital. They seek more creative ways to align their investments with their missions. Earlier this year, in “All investing is impact investing,” I discussed the growing recognition that grants and investments can generate both financial returns and social impact. In this column, I…