All of us who have created a career in the nonprofit and philanthropic world have certainly taken the road less traveled, to use poet Robert Frost's phrase. In my case, it was one that I couldn’t have imagined beforehand in both its bumps and its rewards. But a decade after launching the nonprofit professional services firm The Bridgespan Group, I think I've learned a few lessons along the way about philanthropy. So for the benefit of those who are using their resources in the service of society, or are contemplating doing so, I want to offer some observations, or maybe "rules of the road."

Further, I'd like to share some perspectives about reaching the promise of tomorrow. As I see it, we are truly at a crossroads in both the emerging scale of philanthropic giving and the simultaneous need for creating the highest impact from each philanthropic dollar. Let me say, also, that I am deeply optimistic that philanthropy will rapidly progress toward its ultimate destination of finding answers to many of the word's most intractable problems. Continue reading…