Special Edition 9: Great Philanthropists - Where Many of Today's Basics Come From

Welcome to another edition of “Around with Randall,” your weekly podcast making your nonprofit more effective for your community. And here is your host, the CEO and Founder of Hallett Philanthropy, Randall Hallett. 

It's a pleasure to have you back right here on “Around with Randall.” We deviate a little bit from our norm, as we do every once in a while, in the Great Philanthropist series. And today we're going to try something a little different. We've highlighted seven or eight truly outstanding either individuals or couples who are more modern. Today we're going to go back a little bit in history. We're going to talk about one of the great philanthropists of all time. In some ways we take for granted many of the things that are natural to us, the idea of matching gifts, the idea of public-private partnership in philanthropy with maybe a government entity. We take for granted the idea of hospitals and education being supported by fundraising. And yet, that was not always the case. It had to start somewhere, and in many instances the basics of philanthropy as we think about it today come from one person - Ben Franklin.

I’m reading Ben Franklin's biography, written by Walter Isaacson, entitled “Ben Franklin: An American Life.” Actually, I’m rereading it and I am always touched, surprised, amazed at how much contribution Ben Franklin made to American society, but in particular and for what we do in the nonprofit world, about philanthropy and fundraising. So just a couple quick highlights to get you squared, level-set. Ben Franklin, born in Boston in 1706, went to school until about 15 or 16. Father was a candle maker. If I’m not mistaken he then went for two years and went into an apprenticeship with his brother and there was a terrible fight or series of fights and Ben Franklin left and went out on his own and began doing work around writing and around newspapers and around publications in Philadelphia, in London, England, then finally back to Philadelphia. And he started the leading newspaper in 1726, which we have most of us have heard called “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” which also was an annual, came out with predictions. And as a result from that, that led to where he really gained all of his wealth in the early part of the 18th century. 

So ,17 let's say 30 to 1745 or so, Ben Franklin began acquiring land he from Boston front to Ohio, which if you know your American history, that's out in the middle of nowhere, Georgia, which only had a few places that had population or populous all the way into Canada into Nova Scotia. And it made him incredibly wealthy. He was able to retire at age 42 but that's when he began to figure out that it was his responsibility really, devotion to the idea of public service. How do I make the world a better place? Sounds like the definition of philanthropy to me, and that's where we begin the lesson of the various ways that Ben Franklin has influenced fundraising. So let's start at the top.

Even before he went to France, and we think about also his contribution in the American Revolution, he was the, I’ll call it ambassador, the liaison, to the French king from 1769 or 70 to about 1778 or 9, something in that range. Even before then he began to figure out that what you do for others, how you make your community a better place, has more value than money you make it is prodigious that the quantity of good that may be done by one man, if you'll make a business of it, and that's what he spent the remainder of his life doing. How do I help others? 

One of the first things he did, clear back in 1727, was gather a group of artisans. So these are individuals who are kind of at the front, and we don't think about them in the same way today as they did then, but surveyors, clerks, cabinet makers, printers, people who were making their community work, glazers, things that were important but they weren't owners, they weren't the the the high and mighty, they weren't the the rich, and he called it the Junto Club. And they would gather every week and discuss what are the needs of the community, where are the holes, and there was very few rules, but one of which is you have to come ready to talk about how we can make a difference. And their first product, project, outcome was to create the first library. It started as a subscription library because they needed revenue to get it going but they pretty much figured out in quick order that there wasn't going to work that way and that they were better off sharing the books instead of by subscription. With only those that have resources, with everybody you could donate book, books, you could go check out books, and that was called the what - The Library Company of Philadelphia. That is America’s first library. So the way in which we look at, at least the way I grew up and my wife still takes our children to the library, that started by, with Ben Franklin in Philadelphia in the mid part of the 1700’s.

After the library was established he went on to the next and he created the first, conceived of, founded the first volunteer fire department in Philadelphia - 30 members of a community that would gather together and ensure that they would help each other put out fires in their neighborhood. And they would have things like requirements of, you would have two extra buckets in your house, and that you would come if there was a bell. The very basis of stability in our community, fire, police, social service, roads, all quintessential to making your community what it is, Ben Franklin then was able to replicate that starting in about 1750, 1700, or 1750s excuse me into various other places as well.

Not satisfied with just working on the fire, he then leapt into education founding the Academy of Philadelphia. The difference between what Ben Franklin imagined for education and what maybe something like Harvard, who down the street at about the same time was beginning was about 100 years in by that point, its process is is that they would take anybody. It wasn't an educational secondary, and what we'd think of a secondary ad in, maybe lower level college. It wasn't just for the wealthy, it was for everybody, whoever could afford very little money. How do we keep it affordable? And that continued on for a little while, you know up till like today because that is the University of Pennsylvania, Penn. Within two years of him starting it it had 300 students. 

So we've talked about the idea of library, fire, education. He wasn't done. He decides that there needs to be a bigger look when it comes to this idea of taking care of others, so in 1756 along with some philanthropists and a key physician he starts the first general hospital in America. The reason Philadelphia, if you think about a colonial America, that the constitutional conferences were there, or controversial gatherings, is because Ben Franklin made it one of the most attractive places to live in America. They had education, they had fire protection, they had societies that could better the quality of life. They had a hospital. All of these things led to the idea of the government saying well we need to be supportive of this because this is good for Philadelphia. Working - we're the largest community - we're the most sought after place to live in the colonies. And that led to the idea of what we take for granted in terms of matching gifts. The hospital, much like it is today, is an expensive proposition and so he went to the leaders, the the governing leaders of Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania, and said, “if we could get people to donate money to take care of the sick would you match it?” Fascinating concept. One would just kind of assume, so there's two kind of points here. One is the idea of matching gifts. The second is the combination, or the the relationship, between government and private fundraising, that they can help each other. Firsts in the world. 

Think about this. This is Ben Franklin in about 25 years doing all of this. He was able to convince the colonial government of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania to allow, if he raised two thousand dollars, they'd match two thousand dollars. And so gifts would come in at $5, $3, fifty cents. It was like, as he said, doubling the amount of money that generosity could bring. Even upon his death, and he certainly wasn't the first to use his passing as a way to build up nonprofit work or build out philanthropy, but it's interesting how he did it. Upon his death he left $1,000 to Boston, where he was born, and certainly to his most of his life home Philadelphia, $1,000 a piece that for 100 years those funds could not be spent. They'd be invested. They would grow, but they wouldn't be spent, and after 100 years then the organizations, the city governments could begin to spend them. But they had to be expelled within 200 years. He was building up an endowment for the city government when he passed in 1790.

That money began to accrue interests, and in 1890 both Boston and Philadelphia began to spend it. They were held in trust, but after the sun-setting or the process where they could begin to be given, Philadelphia elected to spend $2 Million on scholarships. Boston spent the money on various projects in the community all about the ability to make it a better place. All of these things we take for granted in today's world, and yet they find their home, their initial impetus directly from Ben Franklin. So the great philanthropist today is Ben Franklin. And I’ll close this with a quote, “Liberality is not giving much,” he wrote in Poor Richard’s Almanac in 1748, “but in giving wisely.”

The lesson here is, who is it that wants their legacy to be their communities, a better place when they're gone? Who wants to invest in it? And then the question is, what do you do that makes your community a better place? That's the messaging in terms of storytelling and in terms of connection that you can make to make all of this possible for your nonprofit. Ben Franklin, today's great philanthropist. 

Don't forget to check out the website hallettphilanthropy.com. We're posting blogs there all the time, particularly one just recently a kind of retrospect from two years ago as I was in Orlando, Florida almost exactly on this date as this is being recorded and what was done and said in a conference that startled me and obviously led to the kind of, some outcomes that we're very much aware of in this world the last two years. Also if you want to get a hold of me, podcast@hallwttphilanthropy.com. Be glad to take your questions, if you have a suggestion on a particular subject, and don't forget share this with others. You can download it on Downcast or iTunes or now which is apple or Spotify, iheartradio, or you can catch it on YouTube as well. Remember you're part of something important. You're making a difference. Please know that there are people like Ben Franklin that want to meet you and want to make a difference in the organization that you represent. The question is, are you getting out there and asking the right questions and having the right conversations? And if you are, you will find the Ben Franklins of your community maybe not as eccentric, but just as genuine in their ability and desire to make a difference. Appreciate your time today. Thanks for joining me on the Great Philanthropists right here on “Around with Randall.” And don't forget, make it a great day.