Around the globe today, more than 100 communities and 50,000 people will have participated in events and celebrations marking National Philanthropy Day.

These events, much like the one we attended on Tuesday organized by the Miami Chapter of the AFP included award ceremonies, galas, luncheons, seminars and other special activities.

Outstanding donors, volunteers, corporations, foundations, small businesses, youth in philanthropy, and others are honored in recognition of their work in improving their communities and their world every day.

As we mark this year’s Philanthropy Day, two occurrences strike me as significant and deserving of special attention by our fellow Agitators.

Topping the list is the need for each of us to do our part to help alleviate the obvious and profound misery faced by the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan and the horrendous task faced by the disaster relief organizations and their aid workers.

To that end Tom and I have made our contributions and we hope all Agitator readers have or will do so also. Here’s CNN’s summary of which organizations are active on the ground in the Philippines and links to their donation pages. Thank you.

The second development of significant and long-term importance, I believe, is the growing awareness that bold new methods, approaches and innovations in financing methods and mindsets must be found if our sector is to expand to meet ever-expanding social needs.

In my first post of 2013, titled Fundraising Desperation and Chaos, I noted that “in a sector desperate for growth and the funds to support vital missions, we need to explore and put to use some of the engines that drive the commercial world. The desirability of debt, of equity investment, of mergers and acquisitions. These are necessary tools for growth, but they’re little understood or accepted in the nonprofit world.”

What better time than National Philanthropy Day to note the significant injection of innovative yeast that’s now occurring? Here’s just a partial rundown with links noted so you can further explore items that interest you.

ITEM: Dan Pallotta, one of my favorite thinkers and iconoclasts, continues to advance his theology urging a far more corporate model for our sector. See the New York Times Q&A with Dan and learn more about the new organization he’s launching — The Charity Defense Council.

As Dan puts it: “Our goal is singular and bold: to change the way people think about changing the world. To let them know that low overhead is not the way the world gets changed. That poor executive compensation is not a strategic plan for ending hunger and poverty or curing disease. That inadequate, donated resources are not the path to global transformation.”

ITEM: Also in the New York Times, Andrew Ross Sorkin reports on the thinking of two-time cancer survivor Lindsay Beck, who is at work figuring out if the Wall Street world of finance could revolutionize the nonprofit sector.

Ms. Beck’s idea/question: Could there be the equivalent of a profit-driven stock market to raise capital for nonprofits? Sorkin reports that so far Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and the Obama Administration have at least begun exploring the possibility.

Sorkin also notes that the idea has “the potential to upend an entire part of the global economy if it succeeds. By some estimates, if just 1 percent of the money in the portfolios of wealthy individuals in the U.S. was directed to nonprofits through new financial instruments like social impact bonds or Ms. Beck’s exchange, the nonprofit world would be sitting on $1 trillion.”

ITEM: There’s also a spate of new books putting forth unconventional and intriguing ideas for funding the sector. I especially call to your attention The Generosity Network: New Transformational Tools for Successful Fund-Raising by hedge-fund manager/philanthropist Jeffrey Walker and fundraiser Jennifer McCrea.

The authors argue that traditional money-centered and goal-driven fundraising techniques so often lead to failure. With personal stories and a trove of innovative examples they outline how to build a community of engaged partners that in Seth Godin’s words “turns fundraising from ‘us and them’ into ‘us’.”

Faced with the disturbing realities of changing donor demographics … charity watchdogs and media grandstanders increasingly on the hunt … eroding public trust in nonprofits … game-changing social media, smart phones, Big Data … and a very limited pool of experienced fundraising talent, all of these new concepts — representing fundamental changes in mindsets — are welcome.

Happy National Philanthropy Day. What are you doing to mark the occasion?

Roger

P.S. Talk about timing.

Yesterday, on the eve of National Philanthropy Day, an Ohio jury announced its verdict of ‘guilty’ on 23 charges of fraud, money laundering and identity theft against the man who ran the U.S. Navy Veterans Association and masterminded a $100 million charity scam. Bobby Thompson, a Harvard-trained attorney who ran the Navy Veterans Association from a rundown duplex in Ybor City, Florida, faces a sentence of 10 to 66 years in prison.

The prosecution of Thompson was triggered by a 2010 Tampa Bay Times investigation (these are the folks who along with the Center for Investigative Reporting recently revealed Ameica’s 50 Worst Charities) led by now-retired reporter Jeff Testerman, who testified at the trial, and researcher John Martin.

Tampa Bay Times investigative reporter Kris Hundley’s picked up on the case in 2011. You can read Kris’ account of the trial here.

An Agitator Philanthropy Day raise to Kris and the Tampa Bay Times.