TPI Managing Partner, Senior Partner, and Senior Advisor Quoted in Inside Philanthropy
Wendy Paris, writer for Inside Philanthropy, interviewed members of TPI’s team — Leslie Pine, managing partner; Maggi Alexander, senior partner and director of TPI’s Center for Global Philanthropy; and John Tyler, senior philanthropic advisor — about the culture and impact of philanthropic giving journeys in her latest article, “The Rise of the Philanthropic Impact Trip.”
Leslie Pine, managing partner at The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI), a philanthropic advisory and consulting practice that is housed within the Boston Foundation, said they use the word “journey” to describe a donor’s learning and evolution in giving. Travel can be part of that. “The emphasis on learning is particularly helpful for funders who are maybe just getting started and may not know what issues or communities they want to focus on. A learning journey can help them figure out where they are most passionate and what impact they want to have,” she said.
Learning journeys can also help longtime funders “step back, reflect, and think differently about what they want to accomplish with their philanthropy,” Pine said. The location people visit doesn’t need to be an amazing vacation destination. “What can make them so memorable is finding leaders who are passionate about the work and can communicate that in a way that is energizing.”
Maggi Alexander, senior partner and director of TPI’s Center for Global Philanthropy, pointed to one donor who traveled to Haiti with Partners In Health and was moved by the needs she saw. Then, after the 2010 earthquake, she put up $1 million for a matching fund; it ultimately grew to $6 million.
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Still, these aren’t arguments against site visits or big-ticket impact journeys. Rather, they point to the need for equally creative ways to inspire giving to a full range of nonprofit work. And, as John Tyler, senior philanthropic adviser at TPI, said, a site visit engages people emotionally. You may not get to tour a farm, but meeting people close to the issue and hearing their passion for the work is more memorable than reading an annual report.
Also, because seeing the work firsthand engages the senses, it leaves a lasting impression. Tyler described a donor trip to visit a successful nonprofit in Wyoming, arranged as an example of what funding could accomplish. “The goal was to create a multisensory piece — to feel the snow, to have an emotional connection,” he said. Travel snafus don’t detract from the value of the journey. “The emotional reaction helps things stick in your memory. Even being frustrated can be impactful.”