Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World

Amazon.com Exclusive: Q&A with Author Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen
Author Laura Arrillaga-AndreessenHow do you define "giving"?
Philanthropy means giving anything—time, money, experience, skills, or networks—in any amount to create a better world. The word comes from the Greek philanthropus—"love of humankind"—which actually makes no mention of money. Anyone with generosity of mind and spirit can take action and be a philanthropist.

What is Giving 2.0?
Giving 2.0 introduces everyone to new ways of thinking about giving. Rather than passively reacting and writing checks, it means embracing a state of constant learning, improvement, and innovation. Too often, we fail to support our giving with planning or research into the issues, organizations, or strategies that have the greatest impact. This means we unintentionally waste resources and miss learning opportunities, ultimately at the expense of those we’re trying to help.

With today's problems that demand increasingly complex solutions and philanthropic resources that are tightly stretched, we need to do more with less. We need to harness our minds as well as our hearts to innovate, learn, pool resources, collaborate, and rigorously measure our philanthropic actions. Only then will we bring about significant change in our world.

Who is this book for?
Giving 2.0 is for everyone—regardless of age, income, profession, religion, or background— who wants to help transform our world. As a resource, it will educate and inspire those who want to start giving. And for those already giving—whether they are donating a few hundred dollars a year or a few hundred thousand, or volunteering time or expertise—this book will help anyone take his or her giving from reactive to proactive and momentarily gratifying to consistently meaningful.

How did you start your own giving journey?
My giving journey has been guided by the actions, service, and values of my parents. My late mother, Frances Arrillaga, and my father, John Arrillaga Sr., are my philanthropic heroes—they inspired me to devote my life to philanthropy.

After losing my mother to cancer, I looked for an organization that would educate and empower me to be an effective philanthropist. I longed for a community of givers with whom to share ideas and compare stories. When I could not find one, I created SV2 (Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund), a giving circle that brings together philanthropists to learn how to give more effectively. It pools funds while helping members develop knowledge about issues, collaborate on grantmaking, and use their expertise and networks to help innovative early-stage nonprofits to expand.

I have also taught "Strategic Philanthropy" at Stanford Graduate School of Business since 2000 and founded Stanford PACS (Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society). I’ve worked to help philanthropists navigate the complexities of giving by designing organizations, networks, and resources to educate and inspire anyone who wants to give more effectively. Giving 2.0 is an important part of those efforts, all of which stem from the same powerful message—you don’t need to donate huge dollars to make a huge impact.