From the Director: June 2011

Dear friends,

Great news — The Stanford PACS new website has launched! I hope that you can spend a moment viewing the home page, calendar and other key items of interest. I really think it turned out beautifully and is a wonderful way to celebrate our two years together! As a special friend to Stanford PACS, I hope that you will send me your feedback as we strive for excellence and easy access.

Also, Stanford PACS had a very exciting graduation weekend! Rob Reich, Stanford PACS faculty co-director, delivered the “Class Day” lecture on June 11th in Maples Pavilion to the graduating seniors and their parents as part of the commencement weekend events.  Rob’s topic was “The Promise and Peril of the New Social Economy” and it was a dynamic delivery with provocative ideas to share and challenge the graduating class. It is also the framework for his new Stanford PACS signature research project. Please enjoy! View his speech.

As we look ahead, the Stanford PACS Advisory Board, faculty co-directors and I have been engaged in a strategic planning process and I would encourage you to do the same using theIndependent Sector-Charting Impact initiative as your anchor—it was a meaningful, productive process! We all must be accountable for our outcomes and impact, so this is an accessible way to approach the work.

Our vision is that the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (Stanford PACS) strives to be the leading global research center on philanthropy and civil society.

Our mission is that Stanford PACS develops and shares knowledge to improve philanthropy, strengthen civil society and effect social change. Stanford PACS connects students, scholars and practitioners and publishes the preeminent journal Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR).

Our values:

• Intellectual rigor:  The highest standards of scholarly research and practice.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration: Creative ideas forged in interaction among faculty and students across five schools and twenty departments.
• Sector-wide engagement:  Fostering the interchange of scholars and practitioners.
• Constructive discourse:  Intellectual skepticism that challenges orthodoxy and status quo.
• Social impact:  Using theory and research to improve philanthropy in the nonprofit sector.

With the intent of moving information from academic silos to reach interdisciplinary scholars, practitioners and leaders, each month we hosted multiple public events, visiting scholars in our PhD workshop, invitation-only workshops, and symposia, which were complemented bySSIR webinars and conferences. And on that theme of knowledge sharing and community building, let’s welcome new visiting practitioners, Kim Starkey Jonker and Christine Sherry along with our robust group of current of scholars and practitioners. Learn more about them.

There was something regularly for you to engage with Stanford PACS this year, and there are more events in the coming months. Mark your calendars!

September 15: 5:00pm-6:30pm, Levinthal Hall-Stanford Humanities Center at 424 Santa Teresa Street, Stanford. Join the authors for a discussion on their new book Give Smart: Philanthropy that Gets Results. Tom Tierney, co-founder and chairman of The Bridgespan Group, and Joel Fleishman, professor of Law and Public Policy at Duke University, will be interviewed by Bill Meehan, PACS Advisory Board member, lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and director emeritus of McKinsey and Company. To register, please RSVP by email to nrudolph@stanford.edu.

September 27 - September 28: Join your peers at the annual Nonprofit Management Institute (NPMI) at Arrillaga Alumni Center, Stanford University, co-sponsored by SSIR and the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).  This two-day conference “Partnering for Impact” will feature thought leaders, scholars and practitioners including Stanford professorsFrank Flynn, Doug McAdam, and Buzz Thompson.  Experts from the field such as Katie Smith Milway and Peter Kim of The Bridgespan Group, and Faye Hanley Brown of FSG will also present. New this year is a special screening of the new PBS film, Saving Philanthropy, with filmmaker Kate Robinson. For more information and to register, visit the NPMI event page.

September 27: 5:00pm to 7:00pm at the Arrillaga Alumni Center, Stanford University.  Join us for a special screening of the new PBS film, Saving Philanthropy. The imperative for the philanthropy community to foster managing to outcomes culture is the theme of this one hour program, which will be aired on PBS in September. The showing will be followed by a discussion with Kate Robinson, executive producer, and Kim Meredith, executive director, Stanford PACS. To register, please RSVP by email to nrudolph@stanford.edu. 

October 27: 5:00pm-6:30pm, Location to be determined.  Join us to hear Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Stanford PACS founder and advisory board chair, speak about her new bookGiving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World. Laura is a remarkable leader, teacher, speaker, and philanthropist providing important, accessible insights for givers of all ages, interests, and levels, regardless of giving time, networks, or expertise. In Giving 2.0, readers go on a fascinating journey through the fast-changing world of giving, read compelling stories of individual philanthropists. It prompts readers to ask the questions needed to help them transform their giving and life. Save the date!

November 17: 5:00pm-6:30pm, Encina Hall, Bechtel Conference Center. Join luminaries and innovators from the field of philanthropy. Steven McCormick, president of The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and former president of The Nature Conservancy,  will be interviewed by Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, founder and advisory board chair for PACS, founder of SV2, and lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business, as they explore the issues facing “Philanthropy in the 21st Century.” Save the date!

Every day I have the delight of serving you, our Advisory Board, Rob Reich and Woody Powell PACS faculty co-directors, our students, and the University at large. Additionally, I have the opportunity to engage with leaders from philanthropy—experts, practitioners and innovators who we connect with scholars to impact social change. 

Earlier this month I participated in a Performance Management Workshop: Managing to Outcomes, hosted by New York University (NYU), Charity Navigator, the Hewlett Foundation, and LiquidNet. We explored how to bring about transparency, accountability and results for nonprofits and foundations. Certainly a long term goal for all of us. 

Additionally, I had the opportunity to attend the Northern California Grantmakers Corporate Philanthropy Institute as a group of cross-sector leaders came together to discuss “Changing Environment, New Opportunities: A Look Ahead for Corporate Philanthropy."  The time is now for strategic philanthropy!

At every point these past two years, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Stanford PACS advisory board chair, stands as a dynamic and dedicated partner as we expand our work globally.  WithYOU in our incredible Stanford PACS community we have depth and vitality behind us at every level. YOU are the BEST!