In assembling a plan for giving including an engagement strategy, donors need to think carefully about the question of who will carry out their philanthropic work and how this work will proceed.

In some cases, donors will seek out the advice and counsel of family members, friends, lawyers, and consultants when executing their giving. These parties may be brought in to assist with planning or implementing a philanthropic agenda.

A trend toward philanthropic disintermediation has, however, emerged in recent years: Younger donors increasingly have decided to cut out all philanthropic middlemen, and instead look to themselves as the principal agents of their own philanthropy. This do-it-yourself turn is, of course, the simplest solution to the agency question in philanthropy, one that removes the threat of deviation from the donor’s intent that delegating responsibility can create.

Engagement styles range from very hands-off approaches, in which nonprofit autonomy and expertise are privileged, to a more deeply engaged approach, in which the donor and recipient work together on program development and problem solving. There are donors who are involved in all aspects of their giving and with the work of the organizations that receive their funds. Often stemming from a sense that philanthropy must be about more than check writing, involved or engaged donors want to feel a connection and offer advice and input above and beyond funds.

This may lead the donor to talk to and toil alongside the inner-city community activists as they weed out a plot in the community garden that has gone unattended so as to understand the community better. It may entail listening in on a board meeting of an organization that is attempting to overcome a challenge and offering some suggestions where appropriate. It may involve the regular introduction of independent evaluators into the program to advise both the organization and the donor on the strengths and weaknesses of the program design and implementation. There are many ways that donors can and do more than just send checks.

The important question is why do donors at times become engaged and how do they go about adding value through engagement?