15 July 2025
Thoughtful giving makes you a richer person
Imagine you have a substantial savings account and want to do something good with it. Something that really makes a difference. How do you go about it? That question has been on Liesbeth Nagelkerke's mind for about twenty-five years. She worked at banks, set up her own philanthropy practice and is a board member for spending at the Ubbo Emmius Fund (UEF) of the University of Groningen.
After studying law at the University of Groningen in the late 1990s, Liesbeth Nagelkerke (1975) ended up in banking. ‘At Rabobank, I was involved in setting up the first Charity Desk in the Netherlands. Now every bank has one. That’s where I discovered the impact that well-considered donations can have and how much of a shame it is when money is hoarded.’
Middleman
In 2009, Liesbeth started her own philanthropy practice, Reachout2. ‘I noticed that negative media coverage of charities has made people distrustful. They are afraid of a ‘middleman’ who often does not exist, or that their contribution will be just a drop in the ocean. But when I show them what existing projects are already achieving, their hesitation disappears. They discover that even a modest donation can help an entire village. In Uganda, for example, thanks to an annual donation of ten thousand euros, women are being trained in climate-proof agriculture – and future generations will literally reap the benefits.
Earthquake in Nepal
Liesbeth's client portfolio now consists of around fifteen entrepreneurial families. “Every year, they donate between 100,000 and 2.5 million euros. That makes a huge difference.” What makes her approach special is her careful selection of projects and her ongoing commitment. 'Over the years, I have built up a large global network that I can always fall back on. When Nepal was hit by a severe earthquake in 2015, I found someone within a day who was willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work on the ground. Hospitals were badly damaged and there was an urgent need for money for medicines and care. One of my clients stepped into the breach and saved lives immediately. Large organisations do important work, but they work much more slowly and cumbersomely because they have to account for millions and deal with local authorities. Once a project is up and running, Liesbeth stays involved. ‘Every so often, I visit the projects in person or send one of my employees to the country in question. We make videos, take photos and write reports that we share with the donors. Sometimes they come along on project visits too! There’s nothing better than seeing with your own eyes what happens with a donation.’
Pioneering
As a board member responsible for spending at the UEF, Liesbeth sees what private donations can mean for science.
‘Thanks to one large, anonymous donation, CogniGron, a research centre for neuromorphic computing, was established. It was a bold idea at the time, but thanks to that project, the University of Groningen is now an international leader in this field.’ The same donor also made the M20 programme possible, which supports ten PhD students in interdisciplinary research every year. ‘Without private support, these projects would never have seen the light of day.’ According to Nagelkerke, this is precisely where the power of philanthropy lies: ‘Private donors can pioneer new ideas. They can invest in ideas that are unproven but have great potential. And that is what we are going to need more and more in this world full of complex challenges.
Would you like to contribute? Visit uef.nl/schenken/vrienden.
Written by: Kirsten Otten