Strategic Philanthropy: Creating Opportunity, Building Wealth, and Driving Community Change

For decades, foundations have invested in a range of approaches that enable families to move forward -- to live in safe homes and communities, start their own businesses, pursue education, secure jobs and advance careers, access health care, and save for the future.Despite these investments, the gap continues to widen between the haves and have-nots, driven by barriers that are increasingly complex, intertwined, and exacerbated by dwindling public and private resources.In this context, new and more collaborative solutions are needed for advancing and sustaining greater economic security, opportunities for growth, and upward mobility. A mounting body of evidence demonstrates that when sector-based investments in education, housing, microenterprise, job training, health care, or community development are connected through a framework of asset building, the impacts are stronger and more sustainable.Through this strategic approach, foundations increase the scale and scope of their work, and more effectively shift the trajectory from vulnerability to opportunity for many of the nation's families. Whether new to the asset building conversation or a proven pioneer, funders will find in this paper compelling evidence about the increased importance and relevance of connecting asset building to existing grant making strategies. This paper illuminates why assets matter and how foundations across sectors are investing in asset building for greater collective impact. It also provides guidance for foundations looking for ways to leverage the asset building framework to advance the impact of their work

Self-other differences in student drinking norms research: the role of impression management, self-deception and measurement methodology

Background: Data-driven student drinking norms interventions are based on reported normative overestimation of the extent and approval of an average student’s drinking. Self-reported differences between personal and perceived normative drinking behaviors and attitudes are taken at face value as evidence of actual levels of overestimation. This study investigates whether commonly used data collection methods and socially desirable responding may inadvertently impede establishing 'objective' drinking norms. Methods: UK students [N=421; 69% female; Mean age 20.22 years (SD = 2.5)] were randomly assigned to one of three versions of a drinking norms questionnaire: The standard multi-target questionnaire assessed respondents' drinking attitudes and behaviors (frequency of consumption, heavy drinking, units on a typical occasion) as well as drinking attitudes and behaviors for an ‘average student’. Two deconstructed versions of this questionnaire assessed identical behaviors and attitudes for participants themselves or an 'average student'. The Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding was also administered. Results: Students who answered questions about themselves and peers reported more extreme perceived drinking attitudes for the average student compared with those reporting solely on the ‘average student’. Personal and perceived reports of drinking behaviors did not differ between multi- and single-target versions of the questionnaire. Among those who completed the multi-target questionnaire, after controlling for demographics and weekly drinking, socially desirable responding was related positively with the magnitude of difference between students’ own reported behaviors/attitudes and those perceived for the average student. Conclusions: Standard methodological practices and socially desirable responding may be sources of bias in peer norm overestimation research

Measuring social desirability amongst men with intellectual disabilities: The psychometric properties of the Self- and Other-Deception Questionnaire—Intellectual Disabilities

Background Social desirability has been construed as either inaccurately attributing positive characteristics to oneself (self-deception), or inaccurately denying that one possesses undesirable characteristics to others (other-deception or impression management). These conceptualisations of social desirability have not been considered in relation to people with intellectual disabilities (IDs), but they are important constructs to consider when undertaking a psychological assessment of an individual, especially within forensic contexts. Therefore, we revised two existing measures of self- and other-deception and considered their psychometric properties. Methods Thirty-two men with mild IDs and 28 men without IDs completed the Self- and Other-Deception Questionnaires—Intellectual Disabilities (SDQ-ID and ODQ-ID) on two occasions, two weeks apart. Results Men with IDs scored significantly higher on the SDQ-ID and the ODQ-ID than men without IDs. However, these differences disappeared when Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ and Performance IQ were controlled in relation to the SDQ-ID, and partially disappeared in relation to the ODQ-ID. The SDQ-ID and the ODQ-ID had substantial internal consistency in relation to men with IDs (k = 0.82 and 0.84 respectively). The test-retest reliability of the SDQ-ID was good (ri = 0.68), while the test-retest reliability of the ODQ-ID was moderate (ri = 0.56), for men with IDs. The SDQ-ID had moderate (k = 0.60) and the ODQ-ID had substantial (k = 0.70) internal consistency in relation to men without IDs, while the test-retest reliability of the SDQ-ID was excellent (ri = 0.87) as was the case for the ODQ-ID (ri = 0.85). Conclusions The SDQ-ID and the ODQ-ID have satisfactory psychometric properties in relation to men with and without IDs. Future research using these instruments is propose

Efficient Portfolio Selection

Merak believed that an efficient frontier analysis method that combined the robustness of the Monte Carlo approach with the confidence of the Markowitz approach would be a very powerful tool for any industry. However, it soon became clear that there are other ways to address the problem that do not require a Monte Carlo component. Three subgroups were formed, and each developed a different approach for solving the problem. These were the Portfolio Selection Algorithm Approach, the Statistical Inference Approach, and the Integer Programming Approach

Inventory Optimization using a Renewal Model for Sales

Any optimization requires a realistic and simple model to predict future sales. The problem presenter had suggested that sales might arrive according to a Poisson distribution. We suggest that the company look at renewal theory for models of future sales orders. They have some very distinct advantages. They are powerful and easy to use, in fact the Poisson distribution is a special case. Renewal models are flexible enough to incorporate a variety of characteristics, such as clustering or regularity, upward or downward drift, and mean reversion. Also, some arguments can be made to justify the renewal models based on financial intuition. A realistic (albeit naive) problem is set up which has an analytic solution and other solution methods are discussed

Santeria on Trial

Is ritual animal sacrifice constitutional? A Florida judge rule