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Publications

What's New

Grassroots Philanthropy: Notes of a Maverick Grantmaker,
by Bill Somerville with Fred Setterberg.  Available now! 

Published February 2008 by Heyday Press, Berkeley, CA. 

To read book reviews, and an excerpt from chapter 3, Getting Started (By Getting Our Facts Straight About Foundations), click here: Grassroots Philanthropy excerpt.

KPIX CBS-5 TV, June 9, 2008, "Bay Area Philanthropist Offers Help in a Hurry," featured story on the 6pm news, can be viewed by clicking the link above.

"Bill Somerville of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation is turning the business of charity upside down. For four decades, at hundreds of charities, he's been helping people who want to help other people. Now at age 77, he's come to a simple conclusion. You don't give money to a project. You give it to people you trust to do good things with it."

Financial Times, May 31, 2008 "Givers, Go Out and See for Yourselves" by Sean Stannard Stockton

The Financial Times calls PVF founder Bill Somerville a "philanthropic force of nature."  "The philanthropy practiced by Bill Somerville is energizing, creative and clearly effective ... a leap forward towards high-impact, efficient giving that embraces imagination and risk-taking." 

PVF's latest Annual Report is available as a PDF here:
PVF Annual Report 2006