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| Best Practices: Philanthropy |
Laud and Clear
Darlene M. Siska
05/01/2007
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Parroting Pulitzer
The world is filled with artists, scientists and humanitarians
looking for free money, but Tise says there can also be too many philanthropists
giving out awards that are simply replicas of better-known accolades. "The
typical instinct of a philanthropist is to say, ‘I’d like to create a Nobel
Prize,’" he says. Genetics is one field that he notes is crowded with prizes;
the American Genomic Society has offered awards since 1920, so a philanthropist
planning another such prize must hone his very carefully. A benefactor who
emulates a well-known award risks digging himself a hole out of which he’ll
never climb. No one was giving peace prizes when Nobel wrote his will; altruists
should choose a field that’s not already dominated by a high-profile competitor.
Alternatively, a philanthropist may hope to eventually create a
feeder to even the Nobels. When Albert and Mary Lasker started the Albert Lasker
Medical Research Awards in 1945, their goal was to help cure disease and raise
awareness of the value of biomedical research. Today, there are many similar
prizes in existence, but the Lasker awards hold a special cachet: 71 Lasker
laureates have gone on to receive Nobel prizes, most within two years of winning
a Lasker.
Darlene M. Siska is a writer based in Pennsylvania and Washington,
D.C.
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