philanthropy

Welcome to our special guest blog post series - "Millennial Perspectives: Voices of a Giving Generation." We hope you will join us each week until the Millennial Donor Summit on June 22, 2011, as we explore Millennial engagement with a variety of leading experts and practitioners.

This week, we've invited Andrew Ho, Manager of Global Philanthropy for the Council on Foundations to share his insights on how Millennial engagement is being redefined here in the US and around the world.

Philanthropy, much as with other things today, has stepped on the accelerator in terms of becoming a global phenomenon. The amount of charitable donations going overseas and to US-based international programs has doubled since 2003, according to the Foundation Center. The rise of philanthropy among the world’s wealthiest in the most recent Forbes survey of the top philanthropists now includes individuals from India (Azim Premji), Mexico (Carlos Slim), China (Li Ka-shing), Germany (Dietmar Hopp and Klaus Tschira), and Switzerland (Steven Schmidheiny). This is yet another example of the global nature of philanthropy now.

It is no coincidence that the rise of global philanthropy mirrors the growth of the millennial generation. Millennials are more connected, cognizant, and committed to tackling society’s ongoing challenges of a global scope than any generation before them. Technology and social media certainly facilitates the increase in connectedness and knowledge – and millennials have grown up in an age where the Internet has always existed. Now there are the tools to not only know what’s going on but know who else is passionate about global issues of the environment, poverty, global health, and education at a speed and on a scale that wasn’t previously achievable. The knowledge and connections spanning the globe – through study abroad trips in college, volunteering for a short-term stint in a developing country, or backpacking the world in a gap year, have led to higher levels of knowledge about the world, but more importantly a higher commitment to solve challenges in today’s world.  Philanthropy increasingly reflects this changing worldview as well, with more and more young people volunteering and making charitable donations.

Global philanthropy is no longer only writing a check or making a grant and sitting back to wait for the results–it is becoming much more involved than that.  Global philanthropy is drawing from the best of the sectors, and collaborating to find solutions.  Social stock markets, social impact bonds, and other hybrid solutions drawing from each of the three sectors demonstrate the merging, melding, and blurring of the business, government and nonprofit sectors. It isn’t so much about which sector or industry is responsible for solutions anymore, it is recognizing that any one cannot achieve success alone, and that it requires networks of committed citizens across the sectors to work together to develop solutions.  Bridging the gaps and increasing philanthropy's impact by breaking down traditional barriers of class, race, sector, and wealth are a work in progress, as are the development of new forms of philanthropy. Each country and culture affects philanthropy, and we all have much to learn from one another as we form our respective ethos of philanthropy.  

The Council on Foundations is committed to developing the next generation of philanthropic leaders and preparing them to take on positions of increasing leadership in the philanthropic sector. Whether through the Career Pathways program, the Next Generation Task Force, or through publications like Trading Power, the Council recognizes and values the development of new leadership in the philanthropic sector. Working with the Council are groups including 21/64, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, Resource Generation, and others are working together with under-40 philanthropic leaders around the world to make a difference. We are also working alongside groups in Brazil, Mexico, and China as they develop the next generation of philanthropic leaders in their respective country. Global philanthropy has tremendous potential for social change in the coming years, as philanthropy raises new leaders to increase collaboration across philanthropy, across borders, and across sectors.  

The philanthropic sector, at a young 100 years old, stands to grow tremendously in the second 100 years through new ways of communication, collaboration, and cooperation. By building trust, sharing knowledge, developing relationships, and strengthening the collective vision toward shared goals for a better society tomorrow, together this generation can extend philanthropy’s impact in pursuit of a better future, for all of us.

Charity can take many different forms and mean many different things. As the year draws to a close it is a time many of us take to reflect on acts of charity and how we may help others.

What do you think of when it comes to charity? Is it dropping some change into the cup of someone in need on the side of the street? What about performing acts of volunteer service to help others? Does purchasing a good or service that supports a cause or nonprofit organization count as charity?

It is a word with many complex layers. On the one hand, it is a personal matter tied to how we as individuals relate to one another and to those in need. It is also a public issue that impacts our society and is fraught with many implications. The two sides of charity are linked together, but how we leverage and build upon that foundation is up to us.

New Forms of Giving

For the “next generation”, these issues are highly relevant. Looking to Millennials we see that they want more than a “transactional relationship”—they want engagement. According to a study on Millennial donors, 91%of 20 to 40 year olds noted that they were at least somewhat likely to respond to a face-to-face request for money from a nonprofit. Moreover in the Cone Cause Evolution Study, 94% of 18 to 24 year olds find cause marketing acceptable (vs. 88% average), and 53% chose to purchase a product that supported an issue or cause in the past year. This group will play a key role not only as the next generation, but also in forming and shaping the next generation of charity.

Getting from Giving

I recently attended the NextGen:Charity conference with my colleague Sokunthea Sa Chhabra to hear how leading non-profit and social media experts, CEOs and innovators from various sectors are helping to shape the philanthropic space and approach these very questions.

The goal of the conference was to help “inspire revolutions in efficiency and innovation in non-profit work, [to] help more people, more effectively.” With more than two dozen renowned presenters, including: Scott Harrison of Charity:Water; Jonathan Greenblatt of Ethos Water and All for Good; Adam Braun of Pencils of Promise; Pamela Haas of the IBM Foundation; Melissa Kushner of Goods for Good; and Ami Dar from Ideaslist.org, the conference highlighted different areas of expertise, experience and learning.

Learning by Giving

Each of the presentations contributed to a larger discussion about how the next generation will impact charity. The end result was a day of lessons learned, anecdotes, reflections and inspiration.

Highlights from the sessions included:

If at first you don’t succeed…

Early on in the day Nancy Lublin, DoSomething.org’s CEO and “chief old person” (as she referred to herself) explored the concept of charity and how it will evolve within the next generation. She believes that the younger generation possesses a special talent and ability to attempt things, push things and pursue things that others will not. It’s a characteristic that must be cultivated among youth and celebrated by all.

Which one are you?

Seth Godin, founder of Squidoo.com asked the audience a single question (made famous by Zig Ziglar) that one could spend a lifetime searching for—are you a wandering generality or a meaningful specific? That is to say are you focused and dedicated, passionate and engaged, or just the opposite? Many in the audience took this question to heart and I think it’s worth asking yourself as you read this and contemplate how you want to embrace the next generation of charity.

It doesn’t take much.

Numerous speakers took the stage to share stories of how they started with nothing but a vision or a dream and turned it into successful projects like Charity:Water and Goods for Good. Speakers acknowledged that one of the greatest challenges and deterrents to taking that big leap is money. However, Nate Westheimer, founder of AnyClip.com was there to shatter this myth about financial obstacles and shared his methodology for starting an organization with less than $60. In fact, Adam Braun started Pencil of Promise by opening a bank account with only $25. In the end, Braun reflected that the critical element for him was his decision to “say yes to possibility.”

Rethink generosity.

Sasha Dichter of the Acumen Fund shared details of his generosity experiment where he spent 30 days giving to anyone and everyone who asked. While he didn’t want to imply this was the “smartest way to give,” he did want to change his mind set when it came to generosity. Rather than saying no, he chose to say yes and this helped him to better understand not only acts of philanthropy, but himself as well.

Since when does going out of business equal success?

Scott Case, co-founder of Priceline.com and CEO of Malaria No More explained that the end goal for all of us in the philanthropy world should be to put ourselves out of business. Case proceeded to clarify that essentially it’s what everyone wants. This mentality will help prioritize the cause before the organization, free up resources and creativity, and provide a great excuse to celebrate once the goal is met.

Each of these speakers gave of themselves and in the end received much in return. They shared their best practices for creating positive change now we want to hear from you. How do you plan to embrace charity, generosity and philanthropy as we move into the “next generation of charity?” How do you think these ideas may inspire or “reboot” our current framework for philanthropy?

Does “philanthropy” need a re-brand? The question is one that keeps rearing its head, and earlier this week while participating in a conversation hosted by the One Percent Foundation, it really got me thinking.  My instinctive reaction was to say “of course it does” Philanthropy is a stodgy term that needs to be rebranded kind of like civic engagement needs a good facelift – it just doesn’t seem to resonate with the rising generation of do-gooders. At the Case Foundation we often talk about how the present and the future of philanthropy is not a bunch of rich people writing checks, but it’s in the power of the five-dollar donor, just as much as it is the fifty-thousand dollar donor.

After all, the power of micro-donations is making each of us philanthropists -- and indvidual donors typically account for three fourths of charitable giving each year. Yet, still very few of us consider ourselves to be such – we don’t like that word or we don’t think it applies to what we’re doing. If you want to make philanthropy something that engages the next generation (or as Rosetta Thurman challenges, the NOW Generation) while we’re still young, then philanthropy must be relevant to the way we live our lives. When you think about it, a philanthropist is simply someone who cares about a cause, and uses what they have to help. And now there are more ways than ever for people to exercise this power – be it texting, tweeting, or even embedding it into every day acts like buying products.

I just came across an interview that Sean Stannard Stockton of Tactical Philanthropy did for McKinsey’s new Learning For Social Impact Series.  Sean suggested (and I paraphrase) that in 1982 only 6% of people in the United States owned stock.  Two decades later more than 50% of us do –and the same thing could very much hold true for philanthropy. Its becoming main stream, and if the culture of investing which has taken hold in the United States can take hold in philanthropy and become an everyday habit, then you’ll find more nonprofessionals becoming engaged in philanthropy.  Sean’s broader point is that we need to put in place greater social impact assessments, and I certainly agree – but do we also need to bring the word philanthropy into the 21st century? Something to show we're not talking about our parents style of philanthropy (more significant dollars but later in life).

Ironically, just a few short years ago the world was inundated with philanthropic advisers – people tasked with helping the rich give away their money.  When the recession hit suddenly philanthropic advisers were hit with a branding problem and according to Robert Frank in a recent Wall Street Journal post, “some philanthropy advisers started rebranding themselves as “generosity coaches,” making the whole business seem more a matter of good morals than big money.”

No matter what we call it - giving, generosity, philanthropy or something completely different -- it seems there is a gap in the communications efforts by nonprofits which causes a good portion of people who have the ability to give regularly, to give only during crisis situations.

So, what you do you think? Is philanthropy positioned in people’s minds as something that everyone can be part of, or just the elite?

Today’s guest blogger, Derrick Feldman, is CEO of Achieve where he provides guidance to organizations to help them develop new fundraising strategies. Today, Derrick continues the conversation we began last week on the importance of engaging younger donors and why fundraising isn’t just about raising money.

A personal connection to the mission

Typically, young donors are involved in organizations related to causes or issues by which they or someone close to them have been personally affected. If a woman fights cancer, she might enlist in a cancer-related organization. If a man loves to read, he might volunteer to battle illiteracy. If a young family has overcome poverty, they might volunteer at a food bank. Once connected to an organization, these people want to help shape the direction or have the opportunity to directly assist someone served by the organization.

Also don’t assume that, once you’ve made your connections, you can stop there. You must – as you would with any donor – continue to develop the relationship. Cultivate and visit with young donors to show how you admire their passion and how they can affect the work of the organization. Give them opportunities to rub shoulders with more veteran donors and community leaders. Listen to their ideas and make them feel connected to the mission. Offer them private meet-and-greets with board members before board activities, invite them to work with staff to shape a strategic plan, etc.

Coming off the heels of the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, I’m reminded about the power of individuals to recognize their potential not only as volunteers but also as philanthropists. It’s kind of serendipitous timing that just last night NBC aired its first episode of a new series, The Philanthropist. 

As the National Conference on Volunteering and Service gets underway in San Francisco next week, 4,500 leaders from across the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors will pack the Moscone Center for workshops and plenary sessions aimed at strengthening the culture of service in our country. And, in a year when so many conferences have been forced to scale back, or have seen significant declines in attendance -- the energy (and turnout) surrounding this year’s service conference is a testament to what a hot issue service seems to be at this moment in time.

Last week’s Barron’s weekly magazine featured a story on the New Faces of Philanthropy. As traditional charitable donors cut back their giving in this economic climate, new givers are moving in. Barron's profiles these Gen-X givers who want to make their charitable mark now, not when they're 50 or 60 years old.

Sure, Black Friday has now officially come and gone, and the jury's still out on exactly what the holiday season will bring to traditional and online retailers this year. 

But, while malls and department stores are creatively drawing people in with their early morning sales and buy one get three deals - our friends at Changing the Present have put a clever spin on their own online advertising campaign.

It may just make you think twice before buying your Uncle Joe the obligatory sweater vest this year.  I mean, wouldn't he prefer a gift that keeps on giving, like maybe a goat?  For more low-cost high-yield items that can quickly and sustainably improve a family's livelihood watch the great new video above and visit Changing the Present today. 

The morning plenary at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) just concluded. After some opening remarks, President Clinton "Oprahed" an august panel that included Queen Rania Al-Abdullah (Jordan),  E. Neville Isdell, chairman of Coca-Cola, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, Al Gore and the person I was most excited to hear Bono!

This is the fourth CGI but the first that I have attended.  It is a star-studded alignment of donors like Pam Omidyar, corporate CEOs, nonprofits, Nobel Peace PrizeLaureates like Gore and Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank, and government types.  Mayor Bloomberg, who spoke with Lance Armstrong, prior to the panel about funding cancer prevention in Africa, is all of the above minus the Nobel Peace Prize!