28 Matching Annotations
  1. Aug 2023
    1. They were typed and meticulously filed into 48 drawers of a large, beige Steelmaster cabinet on wheels that she donated, along with a few of her wilder getups and wigs to the Smithsonian in 2003—less than a decade before her death in 2012 at 95.

      Phyllis Diller donated her gag file consisting of 51 drawers of Steelmaster card index files (on wheels) along with various dresses, costumes, and wigs to the Smithsonian Institution in 2003.

      Note that this source indicates 48 drawers, which is the primary collection/cabinet, but there is also an additional 3 drawer addition which is often pictured, but apparently not counted here). Compare the actual listing: https://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=phyllis+diller+gag+file

  2. Apr 2023
  3. Feb 2023
  4. Jan 2023
    1. She undertook some of her research trips under the patronage of Charlotte Osgood Mason, a wealthy socialite and philanthropist who liked to bankroll artists of the Harlem Renaissance — under her strict conditions, which included a precise accounting of every cent.

      The "strict conditions" and "every cent" sound a bit oppressive as called out here, though most funders would/should do this sort of thing.

  5. Nov 2022
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  8. Jun 2022
    1. One of my favorite rules of thumb is to “Only start projects that are already 80percent done.” That might seem like a paradox, but committing to finishprojects only when I’ve already done most of the work to capture, organize,and distill the relevant material means I never run the risk of startingsomething I can’t finish.

      This same sort of principle is seen in philanthropy circles where the group already has commitments for a large proportion of the end goal before they even announce the campaign.

      Is there a rule of thumb for this in philanthropy? 50%? What is it called, ie does it have a specific name?

      What relation does it have to the Pareto principle, if any?

  9. Mar 2022
  10. Feb 2022
  11. Jan 2022
    1. Along these lines, the world would benefit from an organized effort to understand how we should identify and train brilliant young people, how the most effective small groups exchange and share ideas, which incentives should exist for all sorts of participants in innovative ecosystems (including scientists, entrepreneurs, managers, and engineers), how much different organizations differ in productivity (and the drivers of those differences), how scientists should be selected and funded, and many other related issues besides.

      These are usually incredibly political questions that aren't always done logically.

      See for example Malcolm Gladwell's podcast episode My Little Hundred Million.

  12. Oct 2021
  13. Apr 2021
  14. Dec 2020
  15. Oct 2020
    1. I can’t overstate the importance of education, since it can inspire critical thinking and foster innovative research to help remove barriers holding people back.

      I'm reminded here of Malcolm Gladwell's thesis about helping the masses rather than the edge cases. see also: https://boffosocko.com/2018/05/01/episode-06-my-little-hundred-million-revisionist-history/

  16. Nov 2019
  17. Jul 2019
  18. Apr 2019
    1. Powered by Data wrote 4 of the resources on this page. "Measuring Outcomes" is about admin data. "Understanding the Philanthropic Landscape" is about open data - sp. open grants data. "Effective Giving" is an intro. And "Emerging Data Practices" is a tech backgrounder from June 2015.

  19. Jul 2016
  20. May 2016
    1. Ford Foundation President Darren Walker is among the most outspoken funders calling for a new grantmaking approach. “All of us in the nonprofit ecosystem are party to a charade with terrible consequences—what we might call the ‘overhead fiction,’” says Walker. “The data included in this article along with comparable data for our grantees convinced us that we had to make a change.” Beginning January 1, 2016, Ford doubled its “overhead rate” (the percentage above direct project costs that can be used to pay indirect costs) to 20 percent. In doing so, it hoped “to encourage more honest dialogue about the actual operating costs of nonprofit organizations,” adds Walker.

      Charity funders need to be aware that different organizations have different overhead costs.

  21. Dec 2015
    1. Whatever our intentions, the truth is that we can inadvertently widen inequality in the course of making money, even though we claim to support equality and justice when giving it away. And while our end-of-year giving might support worthy organizations, we must also ask if these financial donations contribute to larger social change.In other words, “giving back” is necessary, but not sufficient. We should seek to bring about lasting, systemic change, even if that change might adversely affect us. We must bend each act of generosity toward justice.

      -- Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation

    1. after revealing his wife, Priscilla Chan, had given birth to their first child, Max, Zuckerberg announced the creation of a charity organization called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The couple have pledged to give away 99% of their Facebook shares in their lifetime, currently worth about $45bn. The charity, which has “the mission of advancing human potential and promoting equality”, will be administered by the CEO himself and is already on track to be worth a potential $3bn by 2018.