Frequently Asked Questions
What is a philanthropic advisor?
Philanthropic advisors help people turn their money (and more) into meaningful good. You and your financial advisor grow your wealth. Philanthropic advisors grow your impact in the world through direct charitable giving and other forms of social good. We aspire to help make a meaningful difference in the areas that matter most to you. If we do our job, donors have a greater sense of purpose and are confident that their contributions matter.
Our job is simple: to help you overcome whatever holds you back from making a difference. Here are some of the challenges we commonly see:
Feeling overwhelmed by all the causes.
Feeling afraid their money might be wasted.
Many opinions and priorities within families that control assets together.
Philanthropic advisors have a wide variety of expertise and training. I am an expert in evaluating individual nonprofit organizations. I can discern the opportunities and challenges different organizations present. Much like someone who helps you pick your stocks in individual companies, I can help you select organizations to get the most from your philanthropic dollars.
During my time at a private foundation, my focus was helping our grantee organizations to grow. I am a licensed consultant for the Standards for Excellence for nonprofit organizations. I can identify critical indicators of thriving nonprofits and how some are struggling.
I can read 990s. I have read thousands of them. I know that numbers do not tell the whole story. Nonprofits, especially those working to improve individual lives, have multiple “bottom lines.”
Having lived them, I understand the challenges nonprofits face, including the inherent cultural biases that hinder their work.
I speak their language, and I can interpret it for people new to giving.
A leverett is a young hare like a joey is a young kangaroo. In many ancient cultures hares and rabbits are symbols of abundance.
Leverett is also the name of the house where I lived in college. (At Harvard, students live in houses like Hufflepuff or Gryffindor — without the sorting hat). Leverett House is named for John Leverett the first non-clergyman to be President of Harvard in the early 18th century. According to one historian, “Leverett, in a word, founded the liberal tradition of Harvard University.”