Publications

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

May 2022 (Revised May 2024)
Case

The Freedom Fund (A): Ending Modern Slavery

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Courtney Han

The Freedom Fund founded in 2013 to end modern slavery had raised more than half its intended target (by 2025) of $200 million. In 2021, impressed by its decentralized-partnering style of operations, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott awarded the Fund a gift of $35 million... View Details

Keywords: Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Spending; Decisions; India; Thailand; Ethiopia

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

SSRN

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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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18 Nov 2021
News

Strength in Numbers

opportunity to invest in preventative care, earlier diagnosis, and a support system closer to the onset of illness.” The data also reveals that, despite such apparent needs, mental health philanthropy is rarely prioritized; most large... View Details

Keywords: April White

09 Mar 2021
News

Addressing Education Inequities Exacerbated by the Pandemic

goes to education—about $800 million. Business people are also allocating a lot of private philanthropy money. JOSEPH FULLER Professor of Management Practice and Co-chair of HBS’s Managing the Future of Work project The funding mechanisms... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

19 Jan 2010
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing the Economic Crisis

Sharpening Your Skills dives into the HBS Working Knowledge archives to bring together articles on ways to improve your business skills. Questions To Be Answered: How do I lead in a crisis? What roles does the Board play? What are the emotional needs of people who lay... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

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

March 2025
Case

GiveDirectly: Can Direct Cash Transfers End Extreme Poverty?

By: Natalia Rigol, Benjamin N. Roth, Sarah Mehta and John Schultz

Founded in 2008, GiveDirectly was a nonprofit organization that used direct cash transfers—giving people cash via mobile money—to combat poverty worldwide. By August 2024, the organization had transferred over $800 million to poor people in targeted communities and... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Ethics; Growth and Development; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Research; Nonprofit Organizations; Poverty; Africa; Asia; Latin America; North and Central America; United States

2021
Article

Fundraising for Stigmatized Groups: A Text Message Donation Experiment

By: Katerina Linos, Laura Jakli and Melissa Carlson

As government welfare programming contracts and NGOs increasingly assume core aid functions, they must address a long-standing challenge—that people in need often belong to stigmatized groups. To study other-regarding behavior, we fielded an experiment through a... View Details

Keywords: Demographics; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Communication Strategy; Civil Society or Community; Non-Governmental Organizations; Welfare; Greece

01 Jan 2012
News

Andrew H. Tisch, MBA 1977

regular reunion attendee, class volunteer, and a past member of the HBS Visiting Committee, Tisch currently serves on the Board of Dean’s Advisors. His strong interest in strategic philanthropy led him to get involved with the School’s... View Details

September 2006 (Revised December 2007)
Case

Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

In 2003, the $654 million American Heart Association (AHA) approached Cone, Inc. (a brand and communications agency) to develop a corporate sponsorship strategy that would raise $75 million over three years. Within 12 months, the AHA launched the highly successful Go... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Marketing Communications; Social Marketing; Nonprofit Organizations; Social and Collaborative Networks

Article

Business Investment in Education in Emerging Markets Since the 1960s

By: Valeria Giacomin, Geoffrey Jones and Erica Salvaj

This article examines non-profit investments by business in education in emerging markets between the 1960s and the present day. Using a sample of 110 interviews with business leaders from an oral history database, the study shows that more than three-quarters of such... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Oral History; Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business History; Emerging Markets; Reputation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Education Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America; Middle East; India; Chile; Colombia; Sri Lanka; Kenya

Find at Harvard

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

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

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