Pamela Hawley and Ben Goldhirsh have a lot in common. Both are “next generation” California philanthropists who are members of the Global Philanthropists Circle. Both are viewed as innovators and trend setters by their peers and the larger philanthropic community, and both rely on technology as a critical element in moving the world forward. But more important than these commonalities is the remarkable impact Hawley and Goldhirsh have made by motivating others to donate to and volunteer for worthy causes throughout the world.

Hawley, 40, is the founder and CEO of UniversalGiving (www.universalgiving.org), a nonprofit organization which helps people donate and volunteer with vetted projects through its global online marketplace. UniversalGiving’s vision is to “Create a World Where Giving and Volunteering Are a Natural Part of Everyday Life.” Prior to creating UniversalGiving in 2002, Hawley co-founded VolunteerMatch, a nonprofit that has matched more than two million volunteers with nonprofit organizations, and VolunteerMatch Corporate, a customized service for corporations.

Goldhirsh, 29, is the co-founder and CEO of GOOD (www.good.is), a collaboration of individuals, businesses and nonprofits pushing the world forward. GOOD includes a website, magazine and film division, originally known as Reason Pictures. The film division produced Son of Rambow, which was sold at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival to Paramount Vantage, and the 2009 documentary By the People: The Election of Barack Obama, among others. Goldhirsh is also a director of the Goldhirsh Foundation and a board member of Millennium Promise, which seeks to end global poverty by 2025.

Enabling connections to quality giving and volunteering opportunities

Pamela Hawley
lisakeatingphotography.com

Hawley’s lifelong commitment to serve through social entrepreneurship grew out of a visit to Mexico at age 12, where she saw extreme poverty firsthand. Since then she has volunteered in more than 10 countries. Asked why she saw an opportunity to help when others could see the same sights and turn away, Hawley points to her parents’generosity and example.

In Hawley’s family home, loving others means helping them achieve their dreams. That concept is a driving force behind UniversalGiving. “We want to love that individual into a life where they can make their own choices,” she says.

Hawley had already been volunteering internationally when, in November 2001, she decided to leave VolunteerMatch. Her true calling was to move her social entrepreneurship to an international stage. One of her early experiences was a stint working in microfinance in Bangalore, India. Watching people who could not read or write set up micro-businesses such as doing laundry, feeding livestock or selling milk for their neighbors – sometimes bringing in as little as $1 per day – had a powerful impact on Hawley.

“I saw how much good a $100 donation could do in an area like this,” she says. The hope and excitement she saw in Bangalore was in stark contract with her experience in isolated farming collaboratives just hours away. “It went from complete hope to complete devastation,” she recalls. The farming communities were beset by drought, failing crops, inadequate food and indebtedness to the people who sold seed. The suicide rate for the male farmers was 25%.

She had a similar feeling in Peru, one hour outside the city of Lima. “It looks like a war zone,” Hawley says. “I saw white-out conditions, where you can’t see 15 feet in front of you because of the dust. For women trying to escape domestic violence, there is no place to get help regarding food and shelter. There was other place they could go.”

These experiences made Hawley recognize that “we have certain resources in the United States that are entirely unavailable internationally.” She decided to follow her instinct, and devote herself to connecting volunteers and donors to organizations throughout the world who could greatly benefit from their help.

Professionally, Hawley worked in sales, marketing and public relations before joining the nonprofit world. She warns that for some people the transition from a for-profit to a nonprofit environment can be difficult “unless you find a culture that is in line with your values.” Hawley advises that it’s important to be very careful and thoughtful when making that transition.

Hawley created UniversalGiving in June 2002 and launched the website a year and a half later. As a result of her business experience, she was convinced that UniversalGiving should be run using business principles. So the nonprofit is organized into business units such as operations, corporate, marketing and development.

In addition, UniversalGiving, like VolunteerMatch, has services that generate revenue. While UniversalGiving is a free service with 100% of donations going directly to vetted nonprofits, UniversalGiving Corporate generates revenue by providing strategic consulting, and NGO vetting services to corporate social responsibility programs, helping them increase giving and volunteer rates, improve retention and strengthen their brand.

Approximately 300 organizations have passed Universal Giving’s trademarked Quality Model, which provides in-depth due diligence on each project and nonprofit with which the organization partners. Using a venture capital model when evaluating nonprofit partners, Hawley’s team looks at the organization’s business plan, strategy, management team and success rate, among other factors. “We are creating long-term relationships with people we trust,” she says. By the end of 2010, UniversalGiving will be in 125 countries.

Launching a platform for creative engagement

Ben Goldhirsh

Unlike UniversalGiving, GOOD, launched in 2006, is a for-profit venture. As an editor’s note in the winter 2010 issue of the magazine explains, “GOOD is an advertising-supported business, because we believe that doing good can and must be financially as well as morally successful.” The world of GOOD includes an editorially led, member-driven website, the print magazine, a film division and public events. “The DNA of this platform is creative engagement – how people are using creativity to drive impact. That’s the common denominator across all our channels,” says Goldhirsh.

The business model is innovative in that the subscription cost is donated to nonprofit organizations. Initially, subscribers paid $20 for six issues a year, which was donated to one of a dozen partner nonprofit organizations chosen by GOOD, including Teach for America and Millennium Promise.

“The idea was that we would incentivize consumers with the added benefit that their money goes to charity, incentivize these charities to reach their constituencies for the $20 donation, and enjoy the added marketing and public relations that would come from having an innovative strategy,” Goldhirsh explained in a 2007 article in Inc.

The GOOD website platform is evolving, with more user-generated content, a greater emphasis on highlighting people who are moving the world forward and more tools to help users live the life they want to live, Goldhirsh says. “We want to be the AARP for young people who care about where the world is going.” As the GOOD website states, “Since 2006 we’ve been making a magazine, videos and events for people who give a damn. This website is an ongoing exploration of what GOOD is and what it can be.”

A recent list of the most-discussed items posted on the website include an article about preparing astronauts for a manned mission to Mars (the fourth of an eight-part series on the future of transportation); a graphic explaining why a salad costs more than a Big Mac (it’s because of the subsidies); and a challenge to readers to invent a low cost, easy-to-implement system that allows shoppers to use electronic food stamp cards at farmers’markets. If users like the content of the piece, they are given the opportunity to “mark it good.” The number of good ratings is displayed for each article.

Goldhirsh was strongly influenced by his late father, Bernie Goldhirsh, who founded Inc., a magazine that promotes entrepreneurship. In a 2007 article, Ben Goldhirsh told Inc., “The entrepreneurial spirit was celebrated every single day, all day, at my house growing up... If there was an entrepreneurial spirit that my father celebrated, we have a pragmatic idealism that we celebrate in trying to do well by doing good.” Goldhirsh launched GOOD with a portion of his inheritance after his father died in 2003, at age 63. Goldhirsh says that he thinks every day about whether his father would be happy with his business decisions.

The concept of businesses working to advance social causes has fully emerged in recent years, Goldhirsh says. As examples, he cites Tom’s Shoes, which gives a pair of shoes to a child in need for each pair purchased; IBM, which works to reduce carbon emissions; and Pepsi, which – with help from GOOD – launched a project to give away $20 million this year to the best ideas for moving communities forward. All of these companies have embraced the business value of doing good; the visibility gained from these efforts outpaces what can be realized from traditional marketing campaigns, Goldhirsh notes.

Like many businesses – especially publishers – GOOD was hurt by the global economic downturn. In December 2008, the magazine laid off seven staff members. At the time, Goldhirsh told Portfolio.com, “We know there will be a contraction in advertising revenue in the coming year and we know we can be more productive and relevant with a lower budget.” He went on, “While the seas have never been rougher, the wind has never been stronger nor more at our back. This is our time.”

Goldhirsh’s sailing metaphor was no accident. His father, an avid sailor, founded a magazine called Sail, followed by Motor Boat and Marine Business. Goldhirsh rarely has time to sail, but he enjoys it when he has the opportunity. He says he looks forward to the day when he will have more balance in his life and time for activities outside of work and family.

Creating relationships, creating change

Work and family have merged nicely for Goldhirsh, who met his wife through GOOD. They were introduced by a reporter who interviewed Goldhirsh for a story in Portfolio magazine. “The day she interviewed me she said [to his future wife], ‘I met the guy you’re going to marry.’” They were married in August.

Hawley agrees that it is important to leave time for activities outside of work. She is close to her parents, who she spends time with nearly every Sunday and talks to every day. She says she looks forward to these conversations to share challenges and lessons learned, and to get good advice. “If you have outside activities and have other passions, you’ll learn more and bring more to the table,” she comments.

Goldhirsh’s advice for younger people who are interested in social entrepreneurship is to “get going.” He points out that the market is ripe with lots of opportunities and lots of needs. Goldhirsh cautions, however, that launching these ventures “is more difficult than you think it will be. People won’t think that you’re going to make it.” What’s important, however, is whether you think you’re going to make it, he says.

Goldhirsh’s own definition of “making it” continues to evolve. With the encouragement of Synergos, which hosts wilderness retreats in Montana for members of the Global Philanthropists Circle, he has spent time thinking about his own goals and clarifying his intentions about the impact he wants to have on the world. Says Goldhirsh,” Montana has given me a goal of working more from a place of passion, believing in the work I do and enjoying it for what I’m doing, and less as a manifestation of ambition or for the outcomes.”

For her part, Hawley urges others to follow their instincts. “Everyone is called to do something different in this life. Follow that call, instinct or yearning – whatever feels natural for you to do.”

She cautions, however, that in philanthropy, following one’s calling must go hand in hand with building relationships. This lesson was reinforced for her on a service trip to Nicaragua. The volunteers had run out of tools and “the Americans were a bit frantic about how to proceed,” she recalls. “The Nicaraguans were saying ‘you want to do, but we want to create relationships.’”

“Sometimes you have to be present with the people. You have to learn from them, not just do things for them. When you do things, it’s important to be collaborative and use the indigenous knowledge that is in that community,” Hawley adds. “You can get caught up in being efficient. We don’t want to lose sight of why we are doing this.”