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Reflecting on Risk Taking and Ambition through an NGO Lens
June 4, 2009 – 12:02 pm | One Comment

by Sherine Jayawickrama
 
Steven Lawry’s five-part series on U.S. Philanthropy’s Shrinking Amibition has provided a lot of interesting food for thought.  His analysis and arguments have caused me to reflect on how this set of issues …

U.S. Philanthropy’s Shrinking Ambition, Part V: The Paradoxes of Philanthropic Effectiveness
May 26, 2009 – 9:47 am | 2 Comments

By Steven Lawry
In Part IV of this series I argued that large, conventional foundations, staffed by highly-qualified and increasingly specialized professional staff, are over-specifying the solutions to poverty in-house and, in the process, are increasing …

U.S. Philanthropy’s Shrinking Ambition, Part IV: The Importance of Grantee Leadership
May 19, 2009 – 12:35 pm | No Comment

by Steven Lawry
I argued in Part II of this series that foundations as private organizations are freer than public funders to get behind new and untested ideas for reducing poverty that show promise. Foundations are …

U.S. Philanthropy’s Shrinking Ambition, Part III: The Measurement Muddle
April 10, 2009 – 12:38 pm | One Comment

by Steven Lawry
One of the principal criticisms proponents of so-called new philanthropy direct toward old, or traditional large philanthropies is that old philanthropies, in assessing the merits of grant proposals, don’t require prospective grantees to …

U.S. Philanthropy’s Shrinking Ambition, Part II: Confusion about Accountability
April 2, 2009 – 2:00 pm | No Comment

By Steven Lawry
I am arguing in this four-part series that US foundations working internationally are not making full use of their freedom to support innovation and help people claim new rights—and that progress toward reducing …

Getting Beyond the Buzz on “Dead Aid”
April 1, 2009 – 10:09 am | One Comment

Dambisa Moyo made a stop at the Harvard Kennedy School on Monday to talk about her book Dead Aid. The book is creating a lot of buzz. I now understand why. Moyo’s message is simple, …

U.S. Philanthropy’s Shrinking Ambition
March 25, 2009 – 10:50 am | 5 Comments

by Steven Lawry
Independent US foundations working internationally have advantages that other kinds of donors, such as the World Bank and USAID, generally don’t. As private funders, foundations are better able to bear risk on behalf …

Bridging Research and Practice in International Development
March 11, 2009 – 12:01 pm | One Comment

 
About a week ago, I was on a panel on “Bridging the Gap: Researchers and Practitioners in International Development” at the Social Enterprise Conference held at Harvard Business School.  It was a lively exchange that …

When inexperienced NGOs do more harm than good…
November 25, 2008 – 3:11 am | No Comment

Great post and conversation over at Blood and Milk for those thinking about starting their own international development NGO:  Can you share some of your experiences in which inexperienced nonprofits did more harm than good?

From Poverty to Power
November 15, 2008 – 12:37 am | One Comment

Today the Hauser Center hosted Duncan Green, head of research at Oxfam GB, to discuss his new book, From Poverty to Power.  Lant Pritchett, professor of the practice of international development, offered a response.
Some quick …