Delusional Altruism

13You Found Your North Star

I've spoken with thousands of philanthropists just like you, and one thing is for sure: You don't want to dillydally. While you might enjoy a bit of wandering through Europe on vacation, you don't want to wander through your philanthropy. With your giving, you'd like clarity. You want to know what you want to accomplish, and the best way to do it.

To do that, you need a strategy.

Unfortunately, too few philanthropists have one. They don't know their North Star.

The good news is that formulating your strategy is easier than you might think. Having one will bring you clarity, guide your decision making, save you time, help you take risks, and increase your impact. Guess what else? It's your secret weapon for demolishing delusional altruism.

Let's take a close look at strategy, specifically how to most effectively develop it—quickly and with a minimum of friction—and then communicate it to your stakeholders.

What Is Strategy and Why Is It So Important?

So, what exactly is strategy, and why should you care?

As we learned in Chapter 6, “You Are Fooled by Your Own Efforts,” strategy is a framework within which decisions are made that influence the nature and direction of the enterprise. It's a tool that helps you make decisions that are congruent with where you as an individual or you as an organization (for example, family office, donor-advised fund, foundation, or philanthropy association) want your philanthropy to go. It provides the guardrails that ...