NCFP’s 2015 Trends study found that more than 90% of respondents cited the “impact of their giving” as a top motivation for participation in family philanthropy. Clearly, funders want to know that the resources they provide are addressing the issues they support. However, accurately assessing the impact of your philanthropic capital can be difficult. One foundation committed to overcoming the challenges that arise when assessing the impact of philanthropy is the Lampert Byrd Foundation. In addition to supporting local youth development and environmental literacy and stewardship organizations, one of the hallmark programs of the Lampert Byrd Foundation is Unorthodox Philanthropy (UP).

UP's approach to giving is unique in the field of family philanthropy - instead of focusing on specific issues or problems in a top-down manner, it is a bottom-up search for interesting ideas, innovations, and solutions that are already working. By following this approach, they are committed to making a measurable impact with their giving.

The Unorthodox Philanthropy approach to philanthropy means the foundation is trying to find programs that can scale, or get on a pathway to scale, with finite philanthropic capital.

UP is committed to finding programs that could be sustainable with philanthropic investment. Sometimes the foundation is able to provide the total philanthropic investment needed, while in other situations, UP provides a portion of the total with the goal of mobilizing additional resources.

Read the full article on Unorthodox Philanthropy at National Center for Family Philanthropy

To read more by NCFP, check out their Family Philanthropy magazine on Giving Compass.