原则

2021-2024 · 随笔 · 原文约 826 词

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Guiding Principles

我们在寻找什么？

What are we looking for?

Investing

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Preamble

游牧合伙人信函

Nomad Partnership Letters

Postamble

思考如何思考

Thinking About How to Think

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短期 vs 长期

Short-term vs Long-term

我们的指导原则

Our Guiding Principles

I.G.Y. 基金会的任务，是理性且低调地重新配置资本，将其投向最能发挥作用的地方。

The job at hand at the I.G.Y. Foundation is to rationally and quietly reallocate capital to where it can do the most good.

我们常听人说，写支票这件事傻瓜都会，但如果真这么简单，为什么做的人这么少？支票固然要开，但我们认为，更好的做法是也在其中投入自己的部分心力。这个过程比看起来要难，我们对配置基金会资本的思考如下：

We have heard it said that any fool can write a cheque but, if that was so, how come so few people do? Whilst the cheques have to be written, it is much better, it seems to us, to give something of yourself too. The process is harder than it looks, and our thoughts on allocating the Foundation’s capital are as follows:

1. 我们（I.G.Y. 的受托人）自行开展工作，评估哪些慈善机构值得帮助。我们选择低调行事，以过滤掉日常的噪音，并希望能获得一些真正的洞见。这样的机会并不常有。

1. We (the I.G.Y. trustees) do our own work assessing which charities to help. We choose a low profile to filter out the noise of the day and hope to have some real insights. They don’t come very often.

2. 我们强烈倾向于，在尽可能的情况下，捐赠保持匿名。（I.G.Y. 基金会最钦佩的榜样是查克·费尼的一生，他一路磕磕绊绊，却成功在不为人知的情况下捐出了自己财富的很大一部分。唉，考虑到英国慈善委员会和公司注册处公开的记录，这在今天几乎不可能实现。即便如此，以最少的纷扰和声势来开展我们的工作，对我们做好事情的能力是有帮助的。）

2. We have a strong preference that donations are, as much as is practical, anonymous. (The model that the I.G.Y. Foundation admires the most is that presented by the life of Chuck Feeney who, with some bumps along the road, managed to give away a large portion of his wealth without anyone noticing. Alas, this is almost impossible to achieve today given the public record keeping of the UK’s Charity Commission and Companies House. Even so, going about our business with the least fuss and fanfare is helpful in our ability to do a good job.)

3. 尽管基金会与其接受捐赠的慈善机构之间的关系是捐赠者与受赠者的关系，但我们的态度是将其视为一种伙伴关系。我们会开诚布公地说明我们的意图和想法，并期待对方同样如此。我们重视理性、基于事实的讨论。

3. Although the relationship between the Foundation and its donation-receiving charities is that of donor to donee, our attitude is as if it were a partnership. We will be open and honest as to our intentions and thoughts and expect the same in return. We value rational, fact based discussions.

4. 基金会的资金来源于 Sleep、Zakaria and Company 和 I.G.Y. Limited 的业务运营捐赠，这意味着我们可能以其他基金会所没有的方式在意捐赠的效果。当我们进行捐赠时，我们的态度就像是在花自己的钱（再加上慈善捐赠带来的公司税收减免）。我们在乎这件事是如何完成的，以及捐赠是如何被使用的。

4. The Foundation is funded by donations from the business operations of Sleep, Zakaria and Company and I.G.Y. Limited, which means that we may care about the effect of the donations in a way that other Foundations may not. When we make a donation, our attitude is as if we were spending our own money (plus the corporate tax break from charitable donations). We care about how this is done and how the donation is used.

5. 我们的长期目标是最大化我们所做捐赠的效果。我们可能会先通过小额捐赠来试探水温，如果机会出现，再加大投入。

5. Our long term goal is to maximise the effect of the donations we make. We may test the waters with small donations and then scale up if the opportunity arises.

6. 我们的首选是通过向多家慈善机构进行捐赠来实现上述第 5 点。然而，现实中，好主意很少见，捐赠漏斗的侧壁可能很陡峭。如果我们发现了真正好的事情，我们准备承担大额的财务重担。

6. Our preference would be to do that (5) via donations to many charities. In reality, however, good ideas are rare and the sides of the donation funnel can be steep. If we find something truly good, we are prepared to do the heavy financial lifting.

7. 我们寻找好的输入，同时认识到好的输出可能需要时间。

7. We look for good inputs recognising that good outputs may take time.

8. 有些输出无法通过经验来衡量，主观的结果也可能很重要。有一种观点认为，慈善应该像商业一样对待，使用类似投资回报率的标准。虽然这种方法可能有帮助，但也可能产生误导。慈善不是商业，如果是商业，它就能自我融资。当捐赠者为自己向现有慈善机构提供小额、短期赠款而沾沾自喜，声称其捐赠回报率很高，却巧妙忽视了最初建设受赠慈善机构所必需的、已经发生的和现有的投入时，幻觉就产生了。这种增量成本会计的做法，有可能对那些承担了最初财务重担的人造成伤害。按逻辑推演下去，如果所有捐赠者都只资助短期、高回报的项目（如果回报真能计算的话），那么许多慈善机构从一开始就根本不会起步。I.G.Y. 采取不同的做法，愿意投资于那个能让其他人宣称获得高回报的平台。

8. Some outputs cannot be empirically measured and subjective outcomes can be important. There is a thought that charity should be treated as if it was a business using return on investment like criteria. Whilst such an approach can be helpful, it may also be misleading. Charity is not business, if it was, it could finance itself. The delusion comes when donors congratulate themselves for making small, short-term grants to existing charities and claim that the return on their donation is high, whilst neatly ignoring the historic and in place spending that is necessary to build the donee charity in the first place. This incremental cost accounting approach risks doing a disservice to those responsible for the initial heavy financial lifting. Run to its logical conclusion, if all donors only funded short-term, high return propositions (if returns could be calculated at all) then many charities would not get off the ground in the first place. I.G.Y. takes a different approach and is prepared to invest in the platform that allows others to claim their high returns.

9. 我们寻找那些从基层需求出发，然后逆向决策的慈善机构。换句话说，管理层的“愿望清单”不应由捐赠者买单。同样，我们对中间商慈善机构、渴求公众关注者、游说团体、政治议程没什么兴趣（所以骑士勋章是没戏了）。

9. We look for charities that make decisions by starting with a grass roots need and then work backwards. To put it another way, managerial “wish lists” will not be fulfilled at donor’s expense. In a similar vein, we have little interest in intermediate charities, the publicity hungry, advocacy, lobby groups and political agendas (there goes the knighthood).

10. 长期来看，我们将对照捐赠额来检查结果，以验证美好的言辞是否匹配良好的行动，同时牢记上述第 8 点。

10. Over the long-term, we will check results against donations, in order to check good words are matched with good deeds, bearing in mind point (8) above.

11. 长期来看，我们将对投资组合的表现做同样的事情。迄今为止，在不借助借款的情况下，基金会累计的对外捐赠支出已超过了所有收到的捐赠。换句话说，我们已经花掉了最初投入的资金。因此，基金会目前的资产（是创始捐赠额的两倍多）完全归功于投资收益。

11. Over the long-term, we will do the same with the performance of the investment portfolio. To date, and without recourse to borrowings, the Foundation’s cumulative outgoing donations have exceeded all incoming donations. In other words, we have more than spent the money we originally put in. The assets of the Foundation (over twice the size of the founding donation) are therefore entirely attributable to investment gains.

I.G.Y. 基金会是一家在英格兰和威尔士慈善委员会注册的慈善性法人组织，注册号 1155564。

The I.G.Y. Foundation is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales, Registered Number 1155564.