Philanthropy

VCs love to talk about Unicorns, where a giant return is possible. Some friends in the impact investing world have recently started talking about generating giant returns by investing in Zebras (such as a nonprofit building in rural Colorado) and Ponies (an immigrant restaurant in Seattle currently using payday lending at 35% for their working capital). While these returns have an economic component, they can also have dramatic impact on our society. ...

Last night Amy and I hosted an event at our house for the ACLU and Earthjustice , two organizations we are significant supporters of. If you told me 20 years ago that I’d be spending a lot of my philanthropic energy supporting lawyers, I would have aggressively rejected the notion. But if you had described what is going on in the US right now, I would have also aggressively rejected the notion. ...

Readers of this blog likely know that my partners Jason and Ryan have a band called Legitimate Front . You also probably know I’m on the board of Defy Ventures . And it’s likely you know that we are investors in Harmonix . When you mix all three, you get a new DLC for Rock Band from Legitimate Front. Their song, She, is now available to play on Rock Band. And, all proceeds go to Defy Ventures . ...

Are you a woman who is an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled full-time at an accredited university in the US, in a STEM field? If you are, you now have an opportunity to apply for a Women Forward in Technology Scholarship . Distil Networks just led a group of us, including Foundry Group, Techstars, Cooley, Yesware, Help Scout, Cloudability, Kulesa Faul, FullContact, and Anchor Point Foundation, to raise $50,000 to advance female representation in technology. ...

Today Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) announced their support for Global EIR , a cause for which I care deeply. As you may know, over breakfast in 2015 Jeff Bussgang and I launched Global EIR with the hope of advancing the startup visa effort on a local and state level after it stalled in Congress. Since then, Global EIR has grown to 13 university programs across the country, helping 42 international founders start companies. These companies have created 123 new jobs and raised $29.9 million in investment for the US economy. And there is still an overwhelming demand of visionary international founders that want to start companies in the US. If Global EIR can raise $300,000 this summer, they can scale rapidly over the next 18 months, with an ultimate goal of helping over 10,000 founders per year. ...

I woke up this morning to see the following on our Human Utility monthly match Crowdrise campaign . It blew me away. I’m proud of our community. Y’all are awesome. THANK YOU. I then poked around to see how we got there and saw Fred Wilson’s blog post on the wrap up of the #GiveWater campaign . We crossed $20k last night so our $20k (Fred/Joanne/Brad/Amy) was released. And, Jessica Livingston matched the $20k again, so that was another $20k. Thank you, Jessica. Super awesome. ...

Does it surprise you that some people in the United States don’t have regular access to water? Our month match for June is The Human Utility . Fred Wilson, Joanne Wilson, Amy Batchelor, and I are matching up to $20,000 of contributions via our #GiveWater campaign . Hunter Walk introduced us to The Human Utility at the beginning of the year. Access to water has always been something that Amy and I support. We first started thinking about this after hearing about Charity Water a while ago from Chris Sacca , who has been a major supporter of them over the years. ...

Amy and I have been supporting Planned Parenthood every year since we became a couple in 1990. Today, the House is going to vote on a bill that, among other things, defunds Planned Parenthood. I’m long past my surprise by any of what is coming out of Washington, so instead of being shocked, I’m just continuing to take action on things that are important to me. So, your Monthly Match team (Fred Wilson , Joanne Wilson , Amy Batchelor , Susan Danziger , Albert Wenger and me) is launching this month’s match for Planned Parenthood . ...

Today (Monday 4/3) is the last day of our Earthjustice fundraiser. We have matching funds up to $40k. So far, we’ve raised $25,200 from 179 people. Help us get to $40k (which will result in an $80k gift) to Earth’s Lawyer .

Planet Earth needs a good lawyer. If you are as appalled as I am by the hostility of the Trump Administration to climate change, clean energy, and what appears to be a systematic effort to dismantle the EPA , then please support this month’s #EarthMatch fundraiser that Joanne , Fred , Amy , Albert , Susan , and I are matching up to $30,000. This month we are funding Earthjustice , which started in the 1960s as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. Since then, Earthjustice has been the legal backbone for thousands of environmental organizations. They leverage their expertise and commitment to fight for justice and advance the promise of a healthy world for all. Earthjustice’s courtroom fights remain the last lines of defense for many of our crucial public health protections and the nation’s cornerstone environmental laws. ...