Pitt instead holds gatherings at which the chancellor or a professor discusses an area of interest to potential donors. Carnegie Mellon courts dot-commers by inviting them to judge business plans or give students tips on starting companies. Pitt and the Pittsburgh Public Theater also rely more on e-mail to send information to younger potential donors because that's a preferred form of communication. These traits also present challenges. At Carnegie Mellon, Kosak said, dot-commers tend to expect the new degree programs and buildings that they support to get off the ground more quickly than do other donors.
Buildings are one thing.
Solving the world's social problems is something else. The impatience of the new wealth has to be tempered with an understanding of how community building and capacity building happen. It isn't a quick fix. To meet this need for speed, the Pittsburgh Foundation makes grants from its donor-advised or restricted funds in two weeks. It used to take three months.