The 32-year-old from Burlingame was never the best baseball player growing up — although his dream to become second baseman for the Giants remained for years — but he had a knack for the strategy from a young age. Looking at numbers, statistics, finding a way to make it work technically. That’s what he hoped to do well.

Not surprisingly, the love for strategy led Stannard-Stockton into the financial world. Analyzing lifestyles to work as a wealth manager. This talent did not seem to fit with philanthropy right away, until Stannard-Stockton realized people, particularly those donating in the millions, are interested in strategic donations. Not necessarily getting the highest tax yield, although clearly tax incentives are a reality for large donations. Rather, having an ally to help manage the money and connect potential donors to those in the know. Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, for which Stannard-Stockton is the CEO, was the result of this realization and is the sibling company to wealth management company Ensemble Capital Management.

“It’s not our job to tell you where to give,” explained Stannard-Stockton. “It’s our job to help you decide where you want to give.”

That help can come in a variety of forms.

Jacob Harold, program officer for the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, explained the foundation does not work with the firm, but follows Stannard-Stockton’s blog. That being said, the model is an interesting one, he noted.

“As a resource, it’s helpful because I can go to his blog once a week and learn something I usually didn’t know,” Harold said.

Such a resource has helped make distinctions those in the nonprofit sector previously were unable to explain, like the difference between a high-impact organization creating lasting results and a high-performance organization which has systems in place to creating lasting change but has yet to be successful, he said.

Charity Navigator CEO Ken Berger, a company that evaluates nonprofits, came across Stannard-Stockton prior to a true introduction. Stannard-Stockton was critical of the rating system noting it only took one aspect, finances, into consideration. At that, it was only a portion of the finances.

“Sean most articulate critics of Charity Navigator,” said Berger, who would quote that criticism in meetings.

That criticism has led to a new partnership. Stannard-Stockton recently joined the advisory board for Charity Navigator and the company is undergoing an effort to create a new, multi-topic assessment of nonprofits.

“Sean is not just one of the most reasoned critics. He is one of the most through and well-informed people in the whole sector on what’s going on amongst people who are leading efforts to make changes to improve philanthropy. He’s very well connected and very knowledgeable on all kinds of things,” said Berger.

Stannard-Stockton did not anticipate a life mixing finances and philanthropy. Growing up in San Francisco, the son of parents working in sociology and psychology, he took a seemingly different route when he began writing books on picking stocks.

“Economics is really the study of society but looking at it through the financial side,” he said.

The interest led Stannard-Stockton to major in economics at the University of California at Davis.

While at Davis, Stannard-Stockton met his future wife Cathy. The two lived in the same apartment complex, where they met. They’ve been married eight years and have two children who are 4 and 6.

From Davis, Stannard-Stockton began working Scudder Investments. In 2002, he joined a Burlingame firm now known as Ensemble Capital Management. This year, a sibling business was created in Tactical Philanthropy Advisors.

Through it all, an interest in social issues and making a difference remained. Originally, Stannard-Stockton assumed his plan would be one of working now and helping later in life. Combining the wealth management principles with philanthropy was one way to lend his professional and personal efforts. Tactical Philanthropy Advisors opened earlier this year as a sibling company.

This service is for a niche community, and not the majority of donors. Stannard-Stockton noted large donors of this caliber make up roughly 13 percent of all donations.

For those who don’t have millions to give, but still want to do something Stannard-Stockton had this advice: Think about giving as an investment. Review the organization’s information.

Take a goal of helping children. Consider: How does the organization help children? How are resources deployed? A pet peeve of Stannard-Stockton’s is writing off an organization simply on the overhead ratio alone.

“Great organizations invest in great employees and great management,” he said.

That being noted, there is a balance and the research should establish how the organization works and if the work accomplishes the goal he or she wishes to support.

Read Sean Stannard-Stockton’s blog at http://tacticalphilanthropy.com/.

Heather Murtagh can be reached by e-mail: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.