The Future of Philanthropy Is With the Cupcake Baker

Recently I was sitting in Manhattan with four extraordinary women. Down the table from me was Jennifer Buffet, president and cochair of the NoVo Foundation; Catherine B. Reynolds, chair and CEO of the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation; Josefina Vázquez, executive director of the Boston Women’s Fund; and Karen Osborne, president of The Osborne Group. As panelists charged with discussing “the changing face of philanthropy” for the 16th Annual Philanthropic Round Table on Women and Philanthropy convened by Miss Hall’s School, we faced a knowledgeable and engaged audience.

Those of us tagged as “experts” charged forth into a discussion about the impact of the economic downturn on philanthropists. We called for private funders to consider nontraditional partners such as government or business and we challenged the funding community to take more risks and be more transparent about our failures. We discussed philanthropy’s role in economic development, the effect of violence against women in the developing world, and the personal responsibility inherent in making funding decisions.

As many of us know, it’s not consensus, but rather a bit of disagreement, that makes for memorable panel discussions. However, during this panel it was age that started sparks flying, specifically the difference in philanthropic values and practice between generations.

Much of the research on philanthropy (that is assumed to represent philanthropists broadly) has actually only considered the Greatest Generation, the Silent Generation, and Baby Boomers. Generation X is  minimally represented and Millennials are often not even on the radar screen. The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University made a significant contribution with its 2010 report showing that, across all five generations and both genders, the percentage of individuals who choose to give is fairly consistent (77 to 89 percent).

But what do we know about how younger generations differ in philanthropic practice and priorities between generations, especially with so little focus on younger philanthropists? One of the most illuminating discussions I have heard was from Shannon Farley of Sparkduring a recent Arabella Advisors webinar. She described Millennials as entrepreneurial, motivated donors who require choice, are comfortable with capitalism, see giving as “fee for service,” and want opportunities for leadership now. Farley’s strategies to engage Millennials should be required listening for the many Boomer parents seeking to involve Millennial children in a family foundation. But the concept of philanthropy as “fee for service,” an intellectual decision to buy a charitable outcome, was reprehensible to some in the room and foreign to many. What happened to giving because it is “the right thing to do”? What happened to the “joy of giving”? This is just one of many generational differences that we need to understand and embrace in the philanthropic sector.

So, with this new generation of passionate philanthropists in mind, the most inspiring women in the room were not those of us serving as panelists. Rather, it was the six young women from Miss Hall’s School who were in attendance. As founders of MAPS (Mira’s Alliance for Philanthropic Sustainability), they are well known on campus for the cupcakes that they bake and sell to raise money for their group. They choose to use their earned revenue not to fund field trips or purchases for their school, but to invest in microloans to women in third-world countries. As high school students, they have a level of global awareness and personal responsibility that many of us are still struggling to develop as adults. These young women were cognizant of their role as future leaders, and already embracing an identity as donor-activists that we were struggling to articulate as panelists.

For those of us older than 30, it’s our responsibility to understand this passionate, inspired, entrepreneurial generation of Millennials; to challenge ourselves to revisit the dated methods we have of engaging young people; and to build access to leadership in the boardroom, in the workplace, and in our communities. In other words, we need to be willing to share power with the cupcake bakers or find ourselves left out of the kitchen.

Christine Zachai is principal at Forward Philanthropy.