Giving Compass' Take:

• Consultant Kris Putnam-Walkerly discusses how penny pinching and philanthropic impact are not the same thing. Do not be constrained by this so-called "poverty mentality."

• We need to get over the overhead myth. Investment in infrastructure and operations is not wasted dollars.

• Here's more about financial subservience when it comes to nonprofit funding.

You’re completely committed to supporting others with your giving, and you’re doing everything possible to ensure that every penny of your charitable assets is going directly to the nonprofits that need it. That’s how you ensure the most effective use of your philanthropy, right?

Wrong.

Squeezing every penny into the philanthropic pipeline isn’t the same thing as ensuring effectiveness. In fact, penny-pinching during the philanthropic process may do more harm than good to those you wish to serve.

Many individuals and foundations think they’re being good and prudent stewards of charitable assets when in fact they are withholding investments that could open the doors to greater productivity and more access to additional philanthropic capital. I call this operating with a “poverty mentality.”

Successful businesses constantly weigh the benefits of investing in themselves against the expense of doing so. It’s how they grow and become more effective at what they do. So the next time you’re considering whether to make an investment in your own philanthropic operations or infrastructure — or in that of a grantee — ask yourself: Are we withholding an investment now that could greatly increase our effectiveness, or our grantees’ effectiveness, down the road?

Read the full article about giving hampered by a poverty mentality by Kris Putnam-Walkerly at Putnam Consulting Group.