Venture Philanthropy is a relatively new concept where a donor agrees to make a financial contribution with an added contribution of sage counsel, usually about management and operations. In some occasions, venture philanthropists even get a seat on the board to ensure follow-through with their advice but to also provide a means of having the information they need to be able to give the appropriate advice.
And, for the most part, these donors interested in playing this role actually do bring expertise and experience to the table so the exchange tends to be a win-win situation for the nonprofit and for the donor too who wants to be valued for more than their money.
But, do check-out this Wall Street Journal article about venture philanthropy (not accurately named in some examples) gone wrong. I believe the most interesting example is the one focused on the hiring of the football coach (in my home state).
I think of course that the lesson, like pretty much for any agreement and particularly a donation, is the need to be specific about what is being agreed-upon. If a nonprofit agrees to accept a gift it must be clear what if any terms go with that gift. Clearly, in the example cited in the WSJ article, "what we have here is a failure to communicate".