“Roger Federer Philanthropy”

Retired tennis great Roger Federer’s well-received commencement address at Dartmouth College last June is worth the time for you to read or view for several reasons, but among them are some implications that can be drawn from it for philanthropy.

“It’s only a point,” Federer said, beginning to describe one lesson he wanted to impart from his unbelievably successful career. “Let me explain.”

“In tennis, perfection is impossible,” he said. “In the 1,526 singles matches I played in my career, I won almost 80% of those matches. Now, I have a question for all of you. What percentage of the points do you think I won in those matches?

“Only 54%.

“In other words,” Federer said, “even top-ranked tennis players win barely more than half of the points they play.”

Risk, and lies

In philanthropy, perfection is impossible, too, of course. While grantmaking’s not a game per se, even the best givers “fail,” often, for several reasons. They should probably fail more, in fact, and should definitely be willing to risk failing more. Even more definitely, they should actively avoid lying to themselves and others about—redefining, sometimes quite creatively, ex post—that which constitutes success or failure.

It’s only a point.

Now, there’s no shortage of good advice to givers about this. Risking banality, it often seems to take something like the following form: learn from failure, so as to succeed thereafter. But it does seem as if being willing to accept a 46% failure rate—which’d be what Federer’s is, if measuring by points—is higher than those advice-givers mean, and those givers themselves would tolerate.

And “it’s only a point,” we should note, isn’t the same as “it’s only a game,” or “it’s only a set,” or “it’s only a match.” Plus, in winning all those games, sets, and matches, Federer must’ve been winning more than 54% of the important points, ones that mattered more, no?

The next one, and the one after that

But let’s take his point, though—his underlying, substantive point.

“When you’re playing a point, it is the most important thing in the world,” according to Federer, who has his own foundation. “But when it’s behind you, it’s behind you. This mindset is really crucial, because it frees you to fully commit to the next point, and the next one after that, with intensity, clarity and focus.

“The truth is, whatever game you play in life,” he continues, “sometimes you’re going to lose. A point, a match, a season, a job. It’s a roller coaster, with many ups and downs. And it’s natural, when you’re down, to doubt yourself. … And by the way, your opponents have self-doubt, too. Don’t ever forget that.”

Federer then underscored what he wanted his audience of graduates to remember:

[N]egative energy is wasted energy. You want to become a master at overcoming hard moments. That, to me, is the sign of a champion. The best in the world are not the best because they win every point. It’s because they know they’ll lose, again and again, and have learned how to deal with it.

Deal

Learn how to deal with it. The benefit of most of philanthropy is that the costs of failure are lower than in other sectors. There are rarely shareholders to whom duties are owed. To the degree there are quarterly results to be reported, they’re too often in the “made-up” or manipulated categories of “data-driven,” “measurable outcomes. There’s time, to fail and learn, unless there are silly “deadlines” for grantmaking outcomes that track with an electoral or other calendar.

We can and should add Federer’s humbly told, statistical story to a list of metaphors that can help us think about how to do grantmaking well. Build in time on your trip for “nothing,” to just walk around and explore. Burn the business plan. Be willing to iterate. Listen for the gentle breeze, or like a good, non-intrusive intelligence officer. Avoid program-staff specialists, opting for generalists. Practice a “slow philanthropy.”

It’s only a grant.

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This article first appeared in the Giving Review on November 11, 2024.

Source: https://capitalresearch.org/article/roger-federer-philanthropy/