Reimagining philanthropy and supporting everyday givers
This GivingTuesday, Kat Rosqueta shares ways that anyone can get involved in philanthropy and how the Center for High Impact Philanthropy supports givers at all levels.
3 min. read
Kat Rosqueta, executive director of Penn’s Center for High Impact Philanthropy, is struck by the reference to philanthropy at the base of the Benjamin Franklin statue in front of College Hall. She says it shows how philanthropy has “been a part of this democratic society—the United States as this great democratic experiment—from the beginning, because it’s how individuals take care of each other.”
Founded in 2012 as a movement to encourage generosity on the Tuesday after Black Friday, GivingTuesday has blossomed into a global initiative and an independent nonprofit.
“Giving Tuesday started as a movement and is now a convener of lots of organizations like ours that are trying to support effective giving, particularly everyday giving,” says Katherina “Kat” Rosqueta, executive director of Penn’s Center for High Impact Philanthropy (CHIP), founded in 2006 as a collaboration between the School of Social Policy & Practice and alumni of the Wharton School. “Everyday giving” includes donations of any size, whether $5 or $5 million.
CHIP, notes Rosqueta, is committed to ensuring that everyone can practice high-impact philanthropy, the practice of using private resources in service of the public good. This matters, she says, because philanthropy has been a part of civil society since the beginning of the United States, and around the world, nonprofits play a role in filling gaps left by government and business.
Rosqueta spoke to Penn Today about how people can engage in philanthropy at all levels—and the programming CHIP offers to support them.
What is philanthropy, and what are some misconceptions you see around it?
That’s a great starting point, because people mean different things when they say the word ‘philanthropy.’ If you look at what that word means, it’s from the Greek, which means love of humanity.
It doesn’t mean you have to be super wealthy. It can mean giving money to nonprofits; it can mean volunteering your time and your talent to help someone else. Broadly, it really is something that all of us can practice.
What are some ways that people can start small or engage in everyday giving?
The Penn community is already practicing philanthropy. Our center can help them go even farther with whatever they have. For example, each year we update and publish our High Impact Giving Toolkit and make it available on our website for free. The toolkit serves as a kind of one-stop shop on ways to make a bigger difference.
If you care about a particular cause, we annotate resources where you can learn more about it and the nonprofits working on it. If you’re looking for a great nonprofit to give to, you’ll find ones already vetted by our team. If you’re unsure which cause to support, we provide decision-making tools to help you make an informed choice.
But don’t spend too much time trying to figure out, ‘Is one [cause] better than another?’ There is no shortage of worthy causes, and success in one area often helps another. For example, if you reduce hunger for a family, the children in that family will do better in school. If you support safe, secure housing, you’re providing a better foundation for health. Choose one and go!
How does the Center for High Impact Philanthropy work with philanthropists?
I look around and see philanthropists everywhere. I see philanthropists in a 20-year-old undergraduate student who might have time or an extra $5 to give. And I see people of extreme wealth with staffed foundations supporting major nonprofit institutions. As a university-based center, CHIP serves as an independent source of knowledge and education for all.
Wealthy donors learn alongside professional grant makers in our High Impact Philanthropy Academy, a cohort-based program on how to practice high-impact philanthropy. Our latest program is Advising for Impact, a new certificate program for professionals working in family offices, wealth management, or boutique philanthropic advisory firms. They’ve been trained in financial matters—such as the tax implications of certain types of philanthropic activity—but very few of them have had any training on philanthropy for social impact.
What trends do you see in giving around this time of year?
This time of year is a very active season of giving and charitable activity. In the U.S., it’s the last time you get a tax benefit by giving to a tax-exempt organization, and it’s when many companies—like Penn—mount their annual workplace giving campaign.
But that’s not all. For many, the end of the year is also a time when we gather with our families for the holidays. It’s a natural time of reflection that prompts many to be thankful for what they have and generous to those less fortunate. That’s why it’s often referred to as the season of giving.
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