PHILANTHROPIST AND FOUNDATION OFFERINGS:

Philanthropy has a long history and a vibrant community today. Strategy for Scale's work is rooted in the idea that there is much to learn from the past and much yet to be crafted from the ever-changing context of today's social challenges. Engagements always begin from a place of compassion, believing that anyone attempting to achieve social impact at scale deserves space to learn, hypothesize, iterate and explore. Within that environment, it is our job to provide examples, frameworks, case studies and connections to help further the potential for any strategy to succeed. Offerings include:

• Guided design. Create and lead facilitated sessions to help new philanthropists create their vision for giving and define their driving principles. Becoming a strategic philanthropist is not as simple as reading a few articles; this kind of engagement allows philanthropists the time to explore what is possible, learn about available tools and trends and decide where to begin. 

• Giving strategy. Design strategies and programs for new and seasoned philanthropists, including developing structures, processes and systems to enable strategic giving. Giving tactics can range from socially responsible investment strategies/impact investing to grant making, but it all begins with clarity on the goals for impact and a complementary structure to support them. 

• Due diligence. Investing in the creation of large-scale social impact requires something akin to investigative reporting. Engagements include doing, creating process for or training staff on due diligence: issue analysis, organizational assessment, site visits, and investment selection.

• Research and writing. While academic research is not the primary offering of Strategy for Scale, we believe that researching and writing thought pieces and provocative frameworks are integral to furthering the sector. 

• Connections. Social impact is a team sport. Strategy for Scale can help philanthropists craft partnerships and create connections with issue experts, potential grantees or other philanthropists. 

Sample Client Engagements:

New Philanthropist (name kept confidential). 
Created a series of engagements to help new individual philanthropists develop their approach to giving. This included devising and leading a set of philanthropy "tutorials", facilitated discussions to enable the client to work through their interpretation of what was shared, and support in creating a strategy and plan to begin giving. 

New Profit, Inc. 
Conducted a broad feasibility study in order to make a recommendation on a strategic direction for the venture philanthropy company. Partnered with the Chief Development Officer and Managing Director to determine goals and objectives for the potential growth opportunity, surveyed stakeholders to determine opportunities and obstacles and created a final recommendation based on learnings. Facilitated two-day meeting with the management team to discuss findings. 

Sobrato Family Foundation. 
Authored a thought piece on new donors based on primary and secondary research for a convening of CEOs based in Silicon Valley who represent a diverse set of philanthropic entities. Partnered with the CEO of Sobrato to create an informative piece to provoke a conversation among many leaders who are colleagues, friends, mentors and representatives of this new cohort of donors.