What's Foolanthropy?

• Email
• Share
• Print

When we Fools invest, we don't just look for a stock with a pretty face -- or story. We have criteria that we look for in companies, so that we maximize our chances of our dollars growing quickly. We want to end up with firms like Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) and eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) in our portfolios, not Scruffy's Chicken Shack (ticker: BUKBUK). It's the same with our giving.

You may have seen some references on our website to Foolanthropy and our annual charity drive. You probably don't have a good grasp of exactly what we mean when we mention Foolanthropy. Here's an explanation, in a nutshell:

Foolanthropy (n): The form of charity advocated and practiced by The Motley Fool.

It has five tenets:

• Foolanthropy seeks to fulfill the same mission as The Motley Fool: to educate, amuse, and enrich. Great charities are deeply involved in education, offering it to beneficiaries and/or the volunteers and the public at large. Amusement can come in the form of creative fund-raising campaigns or infectious excitement and enthusiasm. Enrichment occurs for beneficiaries, volunteers, and society -- and it's not just financial enrichment, either.
  
• Foolanthropy expects. Foolish charities are not paternalistic. When possible, they don't give expecting nothing in return. Instead, they aim to confer a sense of ownership on those whom they serve, expecting beneficiaries to be participate in their own assistance. They foster a sense of personal responsibility.
  
• Foolanthropy make its finances transparent. Anyone giving to a Foolish charity should be able to clearly see exactly where his money has gone, starting with a simple look at the financial statements.
  
• Foolanthropy creates sustainable solutions. Foolish charities aim to not offer stop-gap, short-term aid, but instead to support self-sustaining long-term solutions. Ideally, a Foolanthropic charity tackles epic problems and offers powerful solutions.
  
• Foolanthropy involves the public at large. The most Foolish charities are tackling major problems so effectively that they tend to capture the public's imagination and support.

To meet some fascinating charities, drop by our annual Foolanthropy charity drive, where we're raising money together for some very worthwhile causes.