David Fahrenthold Quotes

It's appalling how much money raised at some charity events gets wasted on paying personnel and admin staff.

The system of volunteerism is divisive. It pits one charity against the others for the charity dollar.

When people make donations to non profits, they want to know that their money goes to good use.

You can express your generosity in ways that are virtually limitless. This was what I wanted to convey in 'Giving 2.0' - that whether you have $10 or $10 million to give, if you identify the right opportunities and make the most of your resources, your impact can be tremendous.

It's time to stop obsessing about overhead and start focusing on progress. Change charity, and charity can change the world.

I have failed a lot in my philanthropy, where I will make philanthropic contributions and they just won't be effective.

My mom was on the United Way group that decides how to allocate the money and looks at all the different charities and makes the very hard decisions about where that pool of funds is going to go.

The spread of online information isn't just good for charities. It's also good for donors. You can go to a site like Charity Navigator, which evaluates nonprofits on their financial health as well as the amount of information they share about their work.

To us, the definition of philanthropy is what we spend. A P&L account means expenditure, lines of revenue. There is a surplus; it goes to the balance sheet. A transparent foundation should disclose this.

There are some things about Trump's foundation and charity that I really want to know. I worry there may not be enough time to figure it all out.

I have always examined closely the motives of any group for which I am asked to raise money.

I think all philanthropy invests in product innovation, whether in a vaccine or a new kind of product of one sort or another, and I think we'll all continue to do that.

I won't sell any Facebook shares as long as I'm on the board. When I leave, all my Facebook shares will be donated to two or three D.C. education-related charities I've supported over the years. Thus, a small portion of Facebook's success will be shared with low income students in Washington.

Billions are wasted on ineffective philanthropy. Philanthropy is decades behind business in applying rigorous thinking to the use of money.

I was on the board of Andre Agassi's foundation, and seeing the way it operated blew my mind. In 2002, I told my wife, I want to start a foundation to give back, I want it to be for kids in hard circumstances, and I want it to be culinary-driven, because that's who I am.

I've long wanted to find a charitable cause to really get involved with and be passionate about. I get invited to a lot of charity events to sing, and I am happy to help and bring a source of entertainment, but I'm sort of disconnected from them.

Instead of waiting until the holiday season - when mail solicitations flood in from worthy organizations - and making a flurry of gifts because this is the time of year to give, sit down and take stock. Identify your passion, learn about it, and direct your time, mind, and dollars to aligned causes and organizations.

At the end of the day, philanthropy can only ever be an adjunct to what governments provide. And government coffers need to be replenished.

There's nothing that can replace quality programs in a non-profit.

There's a lot of complacency in philanthropy. People figure organizations are trying to do good, and that's enough, even if the results aren't there. But that's wasteful and inefficient. It crowds out better programs.

I am currently doing about 30 charity auctions a year.

I think we really feel like Crowdrise could be something that, 20 years from now, people take for granted because that's just how you do it, like if you're going to raise money for something, that's how you do it.

Recruiting is the hardest part of any business, but in charity, it is 10 times harder.

A lot of charities spend a million dollars on a fundraiser to make $15,000. It's a social swirl. They do some great stuff and then - it's called mission drift. It becomes more about the parties.

Meeting people who want to start a charity, help out their families, or raise money for a good cause has been really fun.