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interested in the study of Africa. Global Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley The Bancroft Library’s large collection of business leaders’ oral histories includes interviews of business and philanthropy in Peru... View Details

01 Sep 2009
News

Make the Most of HBS Alumni Resources

thinking. I hope we all take advantage of what this great school can still do for us. — Ann Kelly (MBA ’99) is a partner at the Global Philanthropy Group in Seattle, Washington, where she lives with her one-year-old son. A member of the... View Details

Keywords: Educational Support Services; Educational Services

September 2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: David Weinstein and Write the World

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

David Weinstein, a lawyer and former Chief Administrative Officer of mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, launched Write the World, a proprietary online platform that included a writing curriculum, essay prompts in distinct subject matter, and access to expert... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Expansion; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Business Startups; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

Citation

Educators

25 Mar 2015
News

The Greening of Houston

amenities to Buffalo Bayou. Houston’s businesses are very heavily involved in everything related to quality of life in the city—from the arts to green spaces to education. Though, Gilbane points out that all this philanthropy isn’t just... View Details

Keywords: Constantine von Hoffman; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Government; Administration of Environmental Quality Programs; Government; Special Design Services; Professional Services; Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing; Manufacturing

2025
Working Paper

How Do Nonprofits Use Cash Windfalls? Evidence from $5B in Unrestricted Donations

By: Jennifer Walsh

How do nonprofits use unrestricted gifts? Donations to 501(c)(3)'s are increasingly given unrestricted due to concerns that restrictions on use unduly constrain nonprofits. I study the effect of such funding on recipients using a $5B sample of MacKenzie Scott's gifts... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Budgets and Budgeting; Compensation and Benefits

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2008
Working Paper

The Future of Social Enterprise

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Herman B. Leonard and Susan McDonald

The Future of Social Enterprise considers the confluence of forces that is shaping the field of social enterprise, changing the way that funders, practitioners, scholars, and organizations measure performance. We trace a growing pool of potential funding sources to... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Investment; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Performance Effectiveness; Social Enterprise; Consolidation; Value

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November 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Tim Ferriss: What Might This Look like If It Were Easy?

By: Reza Satchu and Denise Koller

In April 2024, writer-podcaster Tim Ferriss—celebrated as the “Oprah of audio” for his billion-download show and known for NYT-bestsellers like The 4-Hour Workweek—found himself at a crossroads. Despite generating a multi-million-dollar annual revenue with just three... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Personal Development and Career; Business Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Media and Broadcasting Industry

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June 2009 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Goldman Sachs: The 10,000 Women Initiative

By: Christopher Marquis, V. Kasturi Rangan and Cathy Ross

Describes the conception, development, and implementation of Goldman Sachs' five-year, $100 million philanthropic initiative to provide practical business and management education to 10,000 women around the globe. The initiative recently celebrated its first... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Education; Gender; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry

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April 2008
Case

The Energy Foundation

By: Jane Wei-Skillern and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

The Energy Foundation, a philanthropic foundation established through a partnership among major donors with a mission to promote clean energy technology, is the largest funder in the U.S. focusing on the energy sector. The $60 million foundation operates through a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investment Funds; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Networks; Expansion; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States

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06 Nov 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Why Does Business Invest in Education in Emerging Markets? Why Does It Matter?

Keywords: by Valeria Giacomin, Geoffrey Jones, and Erica Salvaj

Profile

Michael R. Bloomberg

Bloomberg Philanthropies works to improve lives by focusing on the arts, education, the environment, government innovation, public health, and accelerating the pace of Black wealth accumulation. In 2017, together with Harvard Kennedy... View Details

10 Aug 2022
News

Generosity Multiplied

wasn’t all already here on the platform. We’ve created a really good marketplace, and match funding is the key that unlocks a lot of the potential.” Now Reed wants to share the platform’s design—what he calls “phil-tech” for philanthropy... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

26 May 2016
News

Thomas J. Tierney, MBA 1980

Smart: Philanthropy That Gets Results Chairman and Cofounder, The Bridgespan Group When Tom Tierney announced that he intended to step down from the top spot at Bain & Company, several of his colleagues thought he should have his head... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

Profile

Jeff Nelson

upon others. They’re a guide to how you might approach different situations after you leave HBS.” HBS activities have already opened opportunities for applying newly learned business practices. Through the Harbus Foundation, a student-run nonprofit, Jeff led a... View Details

April 2021
Case

The Incentive for Legacy: Tsinghua University Education Foundation

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao and Spencer C.N. Hagist

Vivian Yuan seeks to bolster the Tsinghua University Education Foundation's fundraising efforts and investment goals in a new era of Chinese higher education. Competing with elite members of China's C9 League of top universities, she must develop a set of incentives... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Marketing; Strategy; Negotiation; Organizations; Markets; Higher Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Motivation and Incentives; China

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March 2022
Article

When Less Is More: Consumers Prefer Brands that Donate More in Relative versus Absolute Terms

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Anne V. Wilson and Leslie K. John

When trying to make a good impression on consumers through charitable giving, is it better for brands to maximize the overall dollars they donate or how much they give in relative terms; for example, the proportion of profits? Across five studies we show that consumers... View Details

Keywords: Cause-related Marketing; Charitable Donations; Generosity; Altruism; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior

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Profile

Leo Markel

Why was earning your MBA at Harvard Business School important to you? I came to Harvard Business School to further develop my leadership ability. While confident in my analytical skills, I recognized that I did not have the leadership skills necessary to achieve my... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity; Financial Services; Other Financial Services; Nonprofit / Government

31 Oct 2023
Blog Post

Climate Change Pioneers in the Class of 1978

MJ quit ‘paid employment’ in 2003. After a successful careers in private industry and the federal government, she is now focused on philanthropy and personal enrichment. MJ founded and funded her Veverka Family Foundation, served on... View Details

13 Dec 2006
Research & Ideas

Improving Public Health for the Poor

one generation. So right off the bat you need scale and permanence. Both private and public philanthropy, when they work well, play a key role in fostering the birth of new concepts and ideas. But neither philanthropy nor development... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

August 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Novo Nordisk Foundation

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

In 2024, Novo Nordisk A/S was one of the most profitable firms in the world, thanks largely to just two GLP-1-based drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy. Unusually, this incredibly profitable firm was controlled not by individual private shareholders, but by a non-profit... View Details