True to its name, Unorthodox Philanthropy got started with an out-of-the-ordinary proposition.

In 2010, on a crowdsourcing website called Innocentive, the funder announced that it was seeking “novel, unorthodox opportunities for philanthropic investment with the potential to generate extraordinary returns to society.” It promised a prize of at least $10,000 to the best idea.

Says Lampert: “We approach philanthropy with great humility. We are not experts and this need talented entrepreneurs to tell us what to do. Our role is to help them realize their vision.”

Says Lampert: “If our foundation’s capital was held in the accounts of the world’s poorest people, what alternative opportunities would compel us to look for a return of capital.”

This year, UP is trying something new: It has set a minimum level of annual funding of $3m, and says it if does not find compelling opportunities to spend that money, it will grant whatever remains to GiveDirectly. This gives UP benchmark against which to measure proposals:

With the understanding that all of our annual grantmaking budget could go directly to the poor, our investment decisions must clear that hurdle and provide some justification for allocating resources elsewhere.

Smart. It’s an approach that other foundations that care about global development, or inequality of any kind, might do well to consider.

Read the source article at Nonprofit Chronicles