Democratizing Charity

Every non-profit executive and board member dreams of that millionaire or billionaire contributor. I know because I do a lot of fundraising for arts and historic preservation projects. When I wear that hat, I sometimes feel like Captain Ahab in search of the white whale in Moby Dick.

But mega-donors bring challenges. Large contributors to revenue—whether earned service income from a state of health plan or mega-donors—always come with conditions whether explicit or not. A great illustration (albeit “over the top”) is the plan by the University of California in Santa Barbara to spend $1 . . .