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- All HBS Web (226)
- Faculty Publications (65)
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- 2025
- Working Paper
Tax Elasticities of Top Donors: Evidence from Family Foundations
High net-worth donors who give through a family foundation or donor-advised fund constitute the fastest growing segment of charitable giving in the United States. Using a novel database of foundation tax filings, I document facts about top donors, estimate how they... View Details
Essig Aberg, Simon. "Tax Elasticities of Top Donors: Evidence from Family Foundations." Working Paper, June 2025.
- 19 Dec 2022
- Research & Ideas
What Motivates People to Give Generously—and Why We Sometimes Don't
Both Associate Professor Christine Exley and Assistant Professor Julian Zlatev apply the tools of their research to examine a simple question: What makes people give? Exley became interested in the topic as a child, when she tried to raise View Details
- 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
Satchu, Reza, and Denise Koller. "Tim Ferriss: What Might This Look like If It Were Easy?" Harvard Business School Case 825-091, November 2024. (Revised March 2025.)
- 07 Jun 2021
- Book
9 Tips from an Expert Fundraiser: Help Donors 'Invest in Their Passion'
Few people enjoy asking for money. Whether you’re selling cookies or seeking a gift to fund medical research, it's rarely easy. “Many people see it as akin to begging,” writes Harvard Business School Professor F. Warren McFarlan in his... View Details
Keywords: by Danielle Kost
- 14 Jun 2010
- Research & Ideas
The Hard Work of Measuring Social Impact
says it'll only fund organizations that can demonstrate they do good work to improve educational outcomes for at-risk youth, it sounds reasonable enough," he continues. "But if the foundation picks only those organizations that are able... View Details
Keywords: by Julia Hanna
- 19 May 2021
- Op-Ed
Why America Needs a Better Bridge Between School and Career
change among training organizations, our research team at Harvard’s interdisciplinary Project on Workforce analyzed 316 applications to the Postsecondary Innovation for Equity initiative. The grant competition, launched by venture View Details
Keywords: by Joseph B. Fuller and Rachel Lipson
- 18 Sep 2000
- Research & Ideas
Getting It Done: Improving Nonprofit Performance
number of for-profits that are focusing on problems in areas such as education and welfare-to-work? According to Bloomberg Senior Lecturer in Philanthropy Allen Grossman, the answers to these kinds of questions must take into... View Details
Keywords: by James E. Aisner
- 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
Wei-Skillern, Jane, and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld. "The Energy Foundation." Harvard Business School Case 308-078, April 2008.
- 14 Dec 2011
- Research & Ideas
The New Measures for Improving Nonprofit Performance
How can nonprofit leaders address such conflicting demands? Harvard Business School Working Knowledge recently spoke with two leaders in the field of nonprofit performance management. Mario Morino is cofounder and chairman of Venture View Details
Keywords: by Julia Hanna
- July 2008 (Revised February 2009)
- Case
(PRODUCT) RED (A)
By: Youngme E. Moon, Michael I. Norton and David Chen
Describes the launch and initial results of the (PRODUCT) RED campaign, a social marketing initiative conceived by U2's Bono and Bobby Shriver to combat AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The company licensed the (RED) brand to partner companies, which initially included Gap,... View Details
Keywords: Investment Funds; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Social Enterprise; Africa
Moon, Youngme E., Michael I. Norton, and David Chen. "(PRODUCT) RED (A)." Harvard Business School Case 509-013, July 2008. (Revised February 2009.)
- 08 May 2020
- In Practice
Nonprofits Hurt by COVID-19 Must Hoard Cash to Hold On
survey by the Charities Aid Foundation of America. A staggering 97 percent of respondents expect their funding to decline during the next 12 months as the struggling economy and social distancing hurts fundraising efforts. What can... View Details
Keywords: by Danielle Kost
- 20 Aug 2013
- First Look
First Look: August 20
mentors can―and should―play in cultivating and sharing juniors' career narratives. Purchase this case: http://hbr.org/search/413122-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 313-111 Venture Philanthropy: Its Evolution and Its Future This note explores the current state of... View Details
Keywords: Anna Secino
- 20 Oct 2009
- First Look
First Look: October 20
decision, political and social unrest breaks out in Kenya following a highly contested presidential election. Acumen Fund must now also consider the political risks of investing. Purchase this case:... View Details
Keywords: Martha Lagace
- 12 Jul 2020
- Research & Ideas
Solving COVID'S Mental Health Crisis
get an annual budget from the provincial government but philanthropy still plays an important role in funding new programs and research and augmenting services.” The Foundation, which is one of Canada’s... View Details
- 06 May 2008
- First Look
First Look: May 6, 2008
Fibrosis Foundation: Venture Philanthropy Funding for Biotech Harvard Business School Case 808-005 In 2001, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated acquired the San Diego-based biotech company, Aurora... View Details
Keywords: Martha Lagace
- 22 Feb 2000
- Research & Ideas
Social Capital Markets: Creating Value in the Nonprofit World
for"outcome-based" funding — a process based on nonprofits achievingcertain goals. "It comes down to people questioning the system inwhich we've invested hundreds of billions of dollars and asking, 'Is itworking in an... View Details
Keywords: by Anne Kavanagh
- 15 Jun 2020
- Research & Ideas
A Mass Crisis Can Overwhelm Health Care. Liberia Found a Solution.
proposal for a $23 million contract to help construct health care centers all over the country—an amount more than 10 times Last Mile Health’s 2014 budget and three times the $7 million in unrestricted philanthropy they were already... View Details
- 10 Oct 2000
- Research & Ideas
Cross-Sector Collaboration: Lessons from the International Trachoma Initiative
both Clark and Pfizer. The Clark Foundation had spent 25 years funding research to prevent tropical diseases and now had an opportunity to leverage this experience and see its research applied in affected communities. Indeed, it had View Details
- 15 Jan 2018
- Research & Ideas
A Better Business Model for Fighting Cancer
require a shift in the traditional philanthropy mindset, Hamermesh says, from funding the construction of a new cancer pavilion to financing the development of specific therapies for cancer subtypes—a less... View Details
- 12 Mar 2006
- Research & Ideas
Global Poverty Needs a Global Answer
to be published by Princeton University Press. In this recent interview conducted by e-mail, Lodge is hopeful that the World Development Corporation will be formed. He explains why nonprofits aren't the answer to ending poverty and asks that executives look beyond... View Details
Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell