The Intelligent Edge - Helen Brown Group

August 4, 2016 By Helen Brown

Outside In: Finding Diversity & Inclusion in Philanthropy in the Midst of National Crises & Augmented Reality

This week I am delighted to feature an article by James Cheng which appeared just this week in NEDRA News, the excellent web publication from the New England Development Research Association. James is an active NEDRA board member, serving as chair of the Social Media Committee, the Website & Technology Committee, and the newly-created Diversity Committee. James’s article made me think about the uncertainties in our current political situations, regardless of where we live. Of the permeability of borders, and what is irreparably damaged or lost when communication and collaboration are cut off. Of what it means to be diverse, by gender, country, ethnicity, orientation, or belief system. And how important it is to make all of our constituents feel included if our organizations are to grow. NEDRA is forming a committee to begin to open the conversation on what this means for philanthropy; I applaud them and encourage you to add your voice to the discussion.

By Jovel (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Tipping Point

As the popularity of the “augmented reality” game Pokémon GO began to spread exponentially like a virus, my snarky comments on friends’ social posts of captured cartoon images increased correspondingly. When a couple of these friends pointed that out to me, I started to contemplate my critical responses. Were they a personal retaliation against what I saw as nostalgia-induced Pollyanna-ish myopia? Or was I perhaps reacting against the apparent surrender of higher reasoning to a tribalistic hive-mind? [Read more…]

July 21, 2016 By Helen Brown

Brexistential Crisis: Philanthropy After Brexit

As we watch the United Kingdom deal with the aftermath of last month’s vote to leave the European Union, those of us in the philanthropy sector wonder what the loss of EU funding will mean for charities reliant on that funding. I asked Ben Rymer to share his thoughts and research once again here on The Intelligent Edge to help us understand Brexit’s potential impact on philanthropy.

While uncertainty rules the day on Brexit’s effect on philanthropy, four things seem reasonable to expect in the wake of the British public’s vote on June 23rd to leave the European Union.

First, Brexit is likely to be bad news for the British macroeconomy. A weaker sterling (the British pound is so far the worst performing currency in the world in 2016), continuing low productivity (see chart below from the Resolution Foundation) and lower profits (the FTSE 250, consisting of mainly British companies, lost £38bn from June 24th-July 8th) are all notable trends.

There is a risk that Britain (or, in the event of a breakup of the UK, perhaps only England) will become a sort of ‘Greater Guernsey’. [Read more…]

July 14, 2016 By Helen Brown

Surprises from the new CAF Report on UK Charities

Front Cover – CAF Charity Street II Report 2016

This month, the UK-based Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) released their report Charity Street II: The value of charity to British households. Over 2,000 households responded to the survey this past February which was aimed at discovering [Read more…]

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