ORTHODOX VENTURE PHILANTHROPY

There is a significant challenge faced by most independent Orthodox charities compared to their parish counterparts. They do not have the captive attention and pocketbooks of a group of dedicated steward parishioners. Thus, independent charities have some unique financial challenges and must always be in the fundraising business. They often need significant help in designing and implementing best-in-class fund-raising strategies... At the same time, philanthropists are inundated by the constant barrage of funding request from this vast array of rapidly growing numbers of charities. The National Center for Charitable Statistics reports that there are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations registered in the U.S. (and the number seems to be constantly growing). Donors generally have limited visibility into the operational details of these charities and are unable to reliably ascertain their effectiveness in order to determine where their contributions can have the greatest..