Giving Compass' Take:

• Kris Putnam-Walkerly offers advice on how philanthropists can deploy assets other than financial capital, to advance causes they care about most. 

• What are your assets? Have you thought about how to contribute beyond monetary donations?

• Read about how billionaires are pooling assets for a new philanthropy fund. 

Think about all the assets you can bring to the table to advance your cause. Then deploy them!

If philanthropists have anything, they have money. In fact, they have so much money that after taking care of themselves, their family, and their businesses, they’ve determined they have plenty left over to give away to help others. As a philanthropist, whether you earned the money, inherited the money, or you give other people’s money away as part of your job, you have access to wealth.

But guess what? Most of us don’t even think about – much less deploy – these assets. We’re so fixated on the limitations of our grant budgets we forget that we can advance our goals through our unique talents. We’re so frequently asked to give money we forget our philanthropy is more than money. 

The good news is you don’t need to be the billionaire CEO of JP Morgan Chase to deploy your assets. You just need to be you. You need to identify your assets and you need to deploy them.

Here’s what you can do:

  1. Brainstorm: Spend an hour by yourself or with your team and brainstorm every asset you can think of (beyond your cash) that could be helpful to the nonprofits, communities, and your cause.
  2. Prioritize: Review your list and identify the most promising and useful assets.
  3. Deploy: There are unlimited ways to deploy your assets and you can keep it simple.

Read the full article about philanthropists deploying assets by Kris Putnam-Walkerly at Putnam Consulting Group.