The isty-bitsy spider went up the spout again.

Welcome back! Took a break after a welcome "rain" last fall of lots of work. Still have lots of work but am convinced by my good friend Kirsten Bullock that blogging again is worth the time. Thanks, Kirsten!

Some changes coming for 2012. I will write less about our family's giving, as our two oldest children head off to college so the "family" at home gets smaller. I will write more about my take on writings and research about giving. So, toward that new goal, here is the beginning of a review published last week by The Foundation Center. My take is a little different than many others....what do you think? Read the rest of the review and comment on it by following the link at the end of this excerpt.

From Off the Shelf, February 7, 2012
The Foundation Center

Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World
Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen (Hoboken, NJ : Jossey-Bass, 2011)

By coincidence, the day I started reading Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World, I also attended a presentation by Dr. Jen Shang, who argued that, for women at least, the charitable act brings the giver closer to her "ideal, moral self." Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen's book is a vivid illustration of that precept. Arrillaga-Andreessen wants you to give and volunteer, in part, to improve your sense of personal fulfillment and (perhaps) your standing in the cosmos. There's a lot going on in Giving 2.0. Arrillaga-Andreessen covers the gamut of ways to give, from volunteering, to "checkbook giving," to family foundations and donor-advised funds, to venture philanthropy. Each chapter combines stories from donors (including those who volunteer time and talent), insights from the author, and questions to ask as you begin to explore that type of giving.

But the book suffers from the very problem it tries to address: there are so many ideas packed between its covers that it's hard to assimilate all of them.

To continue

Thanks for reading!

Melissa