In an interview with The New York Times, Michael Bloomberg shared what he has learned about donors since building his multimillion-dollar foundation. Donors no longer just want buildings, boardrooms, and programs named after their families: they want to be in on plans from the ground up –like investors in a private company. They seek both targeted local results and impact that can be replicated on a larger scale. Modern donors don’t care about a video going viral: they want viral change.
Bloomberg shared hard-won lessons that put his foundation on the road to greater impact. He believes that if you try everything all at once, you’ll get nowhere. He recommends that donors pick one thing and go for it, understanding that they may have to invest in smaller projects along the path to the ultimate goal. Bloomberg hopes that this philanthropic twist on the entrepreneurial spirit of “pick one thing” will influence potential donors no matter what their resources.