Knowledge Philanthropy in the Corporate World

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Career Development   Knowledge Management   Lessons Learned  

I don’t remember when I first heard the term “knowledge philanthropy”, but it’s a pretty safe bet that I didn’t take notice of it initially. However, it was something that started to come up in conversations a little more frequently, so I figured that I had better at least try and understand it.

There doesn’t seem to be a single, agreed upon definition, but broadly speaking the concept is that people volunteer with their brains. Instead of offering to physically work in a volunteer scenario, they offer their expertise and talents. A lot of organizations that embrace or encourage knowledge philanthropy stress that this isn’t a one-way street, that the philanthropist should benefit from the effort in some way as well. But you could really argue that any kind of volunteering involves getting something back anyway--new experiences, or at the very least some personal satisfaction.

As I thought more about the concept of knowledge philanthropy, I wondered whether the concept could be applied in a corporate setting. Of course project managers can volunteer their time and effort in a charitable setting, and one of my other articles this month is about a revelation that I recently had about the value of project management in my community. But not everyone has the time for that. However, all of us have the ability to give freely of our …

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