10 questions philanthropists
should ask themselves
By Silvia Bastante de Unverhau
Head of Philanthropy Advisory, UBS
There is no single path to philanthropy. It is as
individual and unique as every person, driven
by their passions, skills and visions for society.
However, the questions that guide philanthropists
on their journey are common to all. The following 10
questions can kick start any philanthropic journey.
1. What is the source of passion?
This can be triggered by encountering an issue
that is underfunded or ignored. For example, the
spark might come from seeing a pressing social or
environmental concern in a working environment.
It could be inspired by a strong religious or moral
conviction. It may arise from profound personal
experiences, such as illness among friends and
relatives, or eye-opening encounters while travelling.
Equally, the trigger might be an event, such as a
natural disaster or emergency.
2. What should the philanthropist contribute?
The philanthropist may contribute experience,
expertise and knowledge to an environmental or
social issue. Personal resources can also support
philanthropic endeavors, such as cash, real estate,
art, goods and time. Similarly, they could contribute
business-related resources, such as employees,
customers, suppliers, and even access to networks
and relationships.
3. What is the focus of the action?
These questions can help clarify the focus:
–– What is the issue? For example, it might involve
addressing environmental concerns, promoting
social justice or supporting arts and culture.
–– Where will the action be directed? At home or
abroad? Globally, regionally, or within a country
or community?
–– Who will it help? A particular age group, such as
children, young people or the elderly? A gender?
Certain populations, for example, rural, immigrant
or ethnic? Socioeconomic communities, such as the
destitute, entrepreneurs or small-business owners?
The narrower the focus, the greater the chance
of success. Having a specific goal makes it easier
to concentrate on achievable outcomes, determine
the required activities and measure progress
along the way.
4. What type of commitment should the
philanthropist make?
Anyone setting up a philanthropic endeavor should
be realistic about their personal preferences. For
example, should the commitment be hands-on or
hands-off? How broad a set of resources should be
dedicated? Should the resources be purely monetary
or include time, networks and experience? What
level of resources is available? Should the action be
anonymous or highly visible? Character types can
also inform philanthropic preferences. Is there a
desire to act independently or as a network player;
to concentrate efforts or serve diverse interests; or
to follow proven methods or be more experimental?
Philanthropists should also clarify if their efforts must
quickly translate into impact or if they are prepared
to wait for outcomes over longer time periods.
5. Which strategy should the philanthropist pursue?
A common mistake is to act without a strategy. It
is important to clarify the problem and potential
solution, for example, by following these four steps:
–– Select the goal and objectives: what is the
overall goal and what are the specific objectives?
–– Identify possible activities: what are the
different ways these goals can be achieved?
–– Choose a course of action: which option makes
most sense to pursue?
–– Map out a logical model: what does that mean
for the philanthropist’s actions? How will those
actions lead to results?
In defining the strategy, the philanthropist should
also account for what others are doing. This will
either ensure they address unmet needs or avoid
dispersing efforts.
6. How can the philanthropist find the right
partners and opportunities?
This depends on whether the philanthropist is
active in a field where many organizations operate,
or in an area where there are few. Answering some
questions can help them choose the correct model.
For example, how informed are they about the issue?
Do they know of any organizations working on the
cause? How many such organizations are there? Is
the philanthropist clear about the projects that can
achieve their goal? Do they have a clear idea of the
issue? For instance, do they want to support a few
large projects or many smaller ventures?
There are a number of ways to find relevant
projects, from a more proactive model, such
as direct identification and closed requests for
proposals; to more reactive types, such as open
requests for proposals and open applications.
At this stage, the philanthropist may also want to
consider involving their family, given that they can
contribute much to achieving philanthropic goals.
7. How can the philanthropist assess projects
and organizations?
There are many criteria to assess the potential fit
of a partner or project. A helpful way to organize
them is consider these aspects:
–– Vision alignment: Do they share the
philanthropist’s focus? Are they aligned
closely with the strategy? Do they fit well with
the philanthropist’s other activities? How well
planned is the application? Does it address all
the philanthropist’s questions? Does it gloss over
difficult questions?
–– Capacity to deliver: Do they have a track record
of delivering similar projects? Do they have the
financial, human and technical capacity to achieve
the project goal? Does the management team
seem capable and effective?
8. How can the philanthropist evaluate the
impact of their efforts?
It is always good to make enquiries to ensure
resources have been used as intended, and to identify
ways of better engaging partners. In fact, there are
many reasons for evaluating efforts and many of
them do not depend on the size of the undertaking.
Literature on evaluating social impact references
different types of results: ‘outputs‘, for example,
the number of women who enroll in training;
‘outcomes‘, such as an increase in the number
of women getting the skills they need to
compete in the local job market; and ‘impact’,
for example, improved job opportunities and
economic participation of women. Depending
on the evaluation’s objective, the philanthropist
may focus on a different aspect.
However, growing best practice suggests that,
at a minimum, the philanthropist should focus
on evaluating the outcomes of activities.
9. What vehicle is best for the philanthropy?
Very often, a foundation might seem the
most obvious choice. However, gaining an
initial philanthropic experience using different
vehicles is a great way for the philanthropist
to build their experience, learn about the needs
and decide whether they can justify creating a
foundation. To consider the appropriate vehicle,
the philanthropist should explore:
–– Personal preferences: their level of interest in
personally tracking the progress of philanthropy;
appetite for carrying administrative responsibility
and costs; tax, family governance and succession
requirements; time horizon of philanthropy; and
desired degree of flexibility.
–– What’s right for their strategy: the level of
capacity available for meeting the philanthropic
goals; the degree to which publicly attaching their
name would help achieve the goals; the existence
of accessible knowledge regarding what works;
the need for coordinated action; and the ease
of identifying the right opportunities to support.
Depending on the results of these explorations,
the philanthropist can choose between focusing
on direct giving, discretionary funds, donor-advised
funds and setting up their own foundation.
10.What other instruments can help further
the philanthropy?
Beyond the traditional grant, the philanthropist
can support grantees in other ways. The
decision about how to provide funds should
be part of designing the strategy. Potential
funding instruments include traditional
grants, endowment grants, challenger
grants, repayable grants, underwriting,
loans and investments.
Often, an investment, not a grant, can trigger
a completely different mindset in the recipients
and help avoid dependence on donations. Indeed,
social investing is developing rapidly. While evidence
shows that social impact and financial return are
not mutually exclusive, when investing for impact,
social investors will find themselves challenged in
many ways. Investments can be long-term, minimum
investments may be substantial, and measuring
social impact can be difficult. To ensure a satisfactory
investing experience, investors should be very clear
from the start about their motives and expectations.
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is a subsidiary of UBS AG. Member FINRA/SIPC.
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