"A philanthropic venture capital fund?"

The Acumen Fund, founded by CEO Jaqueline Novogratz represents a great newish way of thinking about philanthropy and donating. Typically, when you donate money, you pick a really good cause, send it over, and it (hopefully) does some good. The Acumen fund has the same goal of improving lives when it gives out its money, with that added benefit that the fund gets it all back to be donated again.

Novogratz' organization is a venture capital fund, which is almost always associated with the for profit sector. But charity in the usual sense is a really unsustainable practice; typically, you give it out, and its gone. The Acumen Fund, on the other hand,

takes a business approach to aid. It takes philanthropic funds and instead of “donating” money, “invests” it in businesses that help the poor – making mosquito nets, delivering babies, providing clean water, and so on. The investors are as rigorous as bankers and are careful to measure results and help businesses they invest in.

The Acumen Fund is a global venture and operates on a budget of 5o million dollars or so, but it seems to bring up a larger issue about "charity" in general that applies to all of us as individuals. There's nothing wrong with being charitable; money donations are obviously hugely beneficial and necessary. But they can also serve to encourage a mentality of "us and them", and perhaps too often result in relationships of dependence as opposed to empowerment and collaboration. Venture capital philanthropies aren't just writing a check, they're getting involved and making sure their investments are not just helpful, but actually grow and improve.

A Charity with an Unusual Interest in the Bottom Line
Investing to Fight Poverty