Philanthropists of the World: You’re Doing It Wrong!

As baby boomers barrel into retirement in larger numbers with better health and more energy than any previous generation, philanthropy is getting a makeover. Boomers don’t want to give time at a soup kitchen; they’d rather mentor a small business. They don’t want to throw money into the black hole of a mega-charity; they’d rather know how their money is going to be spent — and possibly have something to say about it.

This is disruption of a high order, which I explored, with co-author Ken Dychtwald, in a 2010 book, A New Purpose. Others, including the notable philosopher Peter Singer, have opined on how much the current generation of givers ought to be giving.

Now comes the self-styled philanthropist Eric Friedman with an intriguing argument about how one should give. In his forthcoming Reinventing Philanthropy: A Framework for More Effective Giving, which is scheduled to be published in September…