Behavior of Philanthropists
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Should philanthropists behave more like venture capitalists, as Letts, Ryan, and Grossman propose? In my opinion, philanthropists should behave more like venture capitalists to the extent that venture capitalists invest in ideas or projects that they believe have a good chance of becoming successful. I believe that it is a mistake for a philanthropist to 'invest' meaning in this context to donate to support an idea, a project, a foundation, or a school that has little chance of succeeding in the short term or the long term. The reason not to donate to this kind of operation is the fact that the contributions that would be wasted on an idea that cannot succeed would be better spent, meaning they would have more of an impact, if they were donated to an organization that either [a] has a track record of success or [b] has a compelling plan to spend the money donated in a way that is quite likely to generate the promised results. This is not to suggest that the entities philanthropies invest in should make money. Instead, philanthropic opportunities should be evaluated and ranked based on their probability of success.1b. What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of this approach? The advantage of this approach involves the rational or logical distribution of limited funds to organizations that can and will produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people in need. How does the New Schools approach to venture philanthropy work? New Schools was estab
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ply ideas on paper. It is a proven method of improving education in the K-12 setting that New Schools has demonstrated through its investments. The weakness of New Schools is that is fighting a battle against one of the most entrenched opponents in American society. Specifically, teachers, their unions, school administrators, and others with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo to protect their jobs, their power structure, and their status even at the risk or cost of a superior education for K-12 students.
Should New Schools be investing in both nonprofit and for-profit ventures? Early on, New Schools made a decision to do so. It might have been easier had New Schools invested only in non-profit schools. However, I believe that the decision to develop partnerships with for profit ventures gave New Schools additional insight about the way they believe the current K-12 system can be saved. Specifically, for profit schools apply different tactics to managing students and curriculum. More importantly, for profit [private] schools are more responsive to their 'customers', which is something that New Schools advocates.
3b. Why include for-profits at all, especially considering the distinctive challenges they pose
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Approximate Word count = 1283
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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