Courage Money: A Guide to Becoming a Venture Philanthropist

It’s been 10 years since Carrie Morgridge wrote the Amazon bestseller Every Gift Matters: How Your Passion Can Change the World. Her message is still true today: Smart strategy, high expectations, a deep network, and hands-on personal involvement will ensure that every gift, no matter the size, will compound over time to have the biggest impact possible. 

In the decade since writing Every Gift Matters, the Morgridge Family Foundation has amplified its position as a funder that disrupts systems and improves communities. Carrie and her husband have also sharpened their personal drive. In 2017, they spent 46 days bikepacking on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail—-a grueling adventure that Carrie recounted in The Spirit of the Trail: A Journey to Fulfillment Along the Continental Divide. In winter 2024-25, Carrie became the first woman to ski two million vertical feet at their mountain home in Montana.

Now, Carrie’s third book is hot off the press at MFF Publishing. We talked to her about her reasons for writing Courage Money: A Guide to Becoming a Venture Philanthropist, who it’s for, and how philanthropy is impacting her family.

Writing a book is hard, and it’s time consuming!! Why did you feel the need to write a third one? 

I wrote Courage Money because I had more I wanted to share about our family’s philanthropic journey, and the impact that is possible for people who are willing to take risks with their giving. I wanted to help readers to understand their passions, skills and values, and also their tolerance for risk. It took us many years to figure these things out, and I hope my book can help people save time and money by thinking about these things early  on in their process. 

 Who is the book for?  

I think many people will find value in the various exercises and reflections. The first audience I had in mind is the new philanthropist who doesn’t yet know how to get started in their giving, and how to structure their foundation. Do they want to be involved with a community foundation, or set up a donor-advised fund? Are they ready to break away and start a private family foundation? Our journey has included all three of these steps, so we are able to share the pros and cons of each. By reading along, people can figure out where they are, and what they might be ready for. 

How did you settle on the workbook structure and style for this book? 

Courage Money is written like a mini college course, or a certificate program, that someone could take, learn from, and even go back and review their notes six months or a year later. It is written in three parts, each with three chapters, three activities, and a reflection. I wanted to create a process that is structured and intentional for the learner, beginning with exploring who you are and what are your values, to identifying your giving core, and finally to setting up your organization. With my years of experience in giving, it is my hope that the learner also will understand more about philanthropy and the no profit environment. I have been part of  many successful investments first hand, and try to pass this on to the learner. I also share some failures, so my mistakes can be seen as “teachable moments.”

What do you hope will happen after people read your book?

Lastly and most importantly, I plan to make myself available for people who want to take a much deeper dive to understand their personal wealth, and hopefully also learn the joy that their giving can bring. My ultimate message is the same as it was a decade ago: Every gift, every individual, can make a huge difference in the world.

Is your family also able to use the book, as the third generation of Morgridges become more involved in giving?

Our kids grew up in a home where they understood the value of giving back. From early on, we were open and honest with them about money, about the foundation, and about our core values. When they were in middle school, we took them to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and together as a family we all decided to make an $8 million gift, which is something we are all proud of, a decade later. Now our kids take their own kids to visit and play at the museum. We also talked a lot about how generous my in-laws have been. They’ve given us space to express our own creative thoughts when deciding where we give. Now, we have offered that same latitude to our children, and—to our surprise and delight—they are carrying on our core values, while making them their own.