Philanthropic tests of our time

Good intentions never fed anyone, provided a mosquito net, brought water to a village or fought a disease. Doing good in the world is a purposeful enterprise requiring skills, leadership and lots of money.

All will be celebrated and nurtured as the Council on Foundations holds its 58th annual conference today through Tuesday at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. The event is co-sponsored by Philanthropy Northwest. Seattle is proud to welcome more than 2,000 representatives from philanthropic organizations around the world, the people who raise and distribute billions of dollars.

The conference has four broad themes built around the challenges of our time: ensuring public health, combating poverty, protecting the environment, and preparing for and responding to disaster.

Together, they can take the imagination as far away as Darfur and as close to home as the earthquake belt known as the Cascadia subduction zone.

All of the skills and practices of an industry will be on display to help strengthen individual and corporate talents. The conference is a gigantic trade show in which the social hours, galas and networking are as important as the sessions on grant making, asset management and professional development.

Altruism blends with strategic giving and corporate branding. Corporations and individuals, through their foundations, not only acknowledge their responsibilities but create a charitable niche and civic identity.

These organizations fuel efforts to shelter and sustain millions of people around the globe. Engaging and cajoling donors, educating the public and employing the media to tell their stories are the trade craft of foundations.

The trip to Seattle is a symbolic journey that matches the movement of institutional philanthropy across the country, a trek that follows the shifting centers of wealth and industrial expansion. Here in the Pacific Northwest, the dot-com and biotech booms still echo in philanthropy, and have helped, in particular, to promote awareness of global health issues.

Enjoy Seattle, as the work of the conference moves good intentions toward life-changing results.