A NEW BREED OF GIVING
Paul Shoemaker
Executive Director, Seattle Venture Partners

Paul Shoemaker, former group manager, worldwide operations for Microsoft, says he was just plain lucky to have been with that technology giant for seven years. As a result, he and his wife, Lori, both 39, have "not just an obligation but a fantastic opportunity to give back for the rest of our lives."

Now he heads an organization that helps people like himself give their money away effectively. Lori is a family counselor in a public school. Both are originally from Iowa and he suggests that it may have been a Midwestern ethic "hard-wired into us" that made sharing their wealth the natural next step for them. Further upgrading their lifestyle was not on their agenda.

The Shoemakers dedicated about 20 percent of their Microsoft assets to establish a family foundation, and they plan to contribute more to the foundation in the future. They "look for things we care about" and make decisions together. "As time goes on, we'll get a little more strategic," Shoemaker says. And they plan to involve their two school-age children - initially by introducing them to volunteer community service.

	WORDS OF ADVICE "Respect the core competency of the organization and don't mess with its mission."

The organization Shoemaker directs, Seattle Venture Partners, is one of the new breed of venture philanthropy organizations, providing human resources, management, and accounting help in addition to grants to nonprofit organizations. SVP also offers philanthropy education to its 260 Partners in the Seattle area.

The other Partners are, for the most part, people like the Shoemakers who benefited from the 1990's technology boom. Some have "cashed out," but two-thirds of them are still working. All are trying to "move further along" in philanthropy, and SVP provides them with a community of peers for doing so, Shoemaker says. "This is definitely a time of unique opportunity in history. We are in the second inning of a nine-inning game. The generation of philanthropists now in their 30s will have given more than any previous generation by the time they are in their 60s - and they will have given differently."

Part of giving differently is the venture philanthropy approach to volunteering and follow up. It should be done very carefully, he says. For example, SVP matches its Partners who want to volunteer with organizations that have a need for a Partner's specific expertise. He urges donors and organizations to jointly establish measurements for outcomes. And he advises donors to remember they are in a position of power - one that should not be abused by inappropriate meddling.

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