Guest Post: Innovation Giving: Gen Y’s Love Affair with Philanthropy

2010 March 1
by Grace Boyle

Note: The following is a guest post from my friend, Beth Oppenheim-Chan.

Being in the nonprofit world is sometimes a thankless affair. Long hours, lower pay scales, and not always seeing the direct impact on your work can be some of the challenges. BUT it’s my love. Somehow, through all of the different paths and directions my work interests have taken, I have remained faithful to this one.

Being on the fundraising side of things, I have constantly been bombarded with articles declaring these days to be the dark days of philanthropy. When the economy goes down, common sense leads people to think that giving goes down too. To a certain extent, they are right. But these folks forgot about my colleagues in Generation Y. All of us working in entry, mid-level, and entrepreneurial positions play a role in the innovation of philanthropy – and I have been impressed with what I’ve seen.

Innovative ideas like Project 7 and Changents have taken what we know about giving, and caring about the world – and changing that to reflect Gen Y’s particular tastes. Networking, and the NEW buzzword on the block – social entrepreneurship – that has everyone talking about new ways to help, all reflect Gen Y’s changing ideas of what it means to “do good.”

For me personally, I think I’ve encountered both sides. Philanthropy is an entrenched idea – one that doesn’t change overnight. The majority of nonprofits still get their funding from traditional grant sources such as foundations (community, private, public) and government grants.

In the fundraising business, people value age and experience. Sometimes, it’s a challenge to bring out the new voices and ideas. But in my opinion, it’s a must.

New and innovative ways of thinking are cropping up everywhere – and I applaud it. The more we get people involved in changing the way people give, the more people whose lives we can ultimately affect through our work. Having the privilege to post on Grace’s blog is a testament to the way people our age value philanthropy – volunteerism and reaching out to others are both great ways to do good.

So how would you lend your voice to this evolution? What can we do as entrepreneurial Gen Y-ers to reinvent this wheel?

Bio: Beth Oppenheim-Chan is a blogger over at 25 and Trying, where she writes about her career in the nonprofit world, life, and a bit of international development sprinkled in. Feel free to connect with her on Twitter too!

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from → Generation Y, Guest Blog Post, Social Cause

  • http://modite.com/ Rebecca

    I love your optimism, Beth. I was in fundraising on and off for a long time prior to my current position, and it's tough. I would have to agree that young leaders in the nonprofit world are needed. In fact, my experience is that when I went on important fundraising calls, it helped much more than if I didn't. The wealthy and influential are excited by fresh faces, new ideas, etc. Having said that, I think the non-profit world is incredibly messed up. I'll save my criticisms for another day though. :)

  • http://25andtrying.com Beth Oppenheim

    I totally hear you, Rebecca. Thanks for your comment – there are definitely layers of “messed up” out there – and the optimism is sometimes short-lived (particularly on Mondays!) I like the idea of fresh faces being something that older people can get excited about – and therefore get excited about the cause.
    Thanks for the thoughts!

  • http://www.smallhandsbigideas.blogspot.com Grace Boyle

    Beth, I really have come to love the philanthropy side of who I am. I mean that in all seriousness. It has become more well-rounded, fine tuned and always an integral part of who I am.

    I now volunteer regularly with a non-profit and in college, I worked for two years at a non-profit and regularly draw from my experiences here and then. In my experience, those in Gen Y at the non-profits were eager, fresh faced and didn't let much faze them. All admirable qualities, but as time went on, they also became jaded then learned how it all works. Still, the bottom line remains and I agree with you, that we need to continue to reach out, strive high and give back. It's so important. Thank you for sharing and posting over yonder :)

  • http://worthywandering.blogspot.com/ Karina

    I really appreciate your optimistic tone here as well. As someone who is just beginning to break into the nonprofit field, on the fundraising side of things, I am definitely experiencing the bias that experience and age play in the field. But I have noticed, mainly in the smaller organizations, an eagerness on the part of ED's and other professionals to let the interns like me take on responsibility and share my ideas. And I also agree that a young fresh face is often very effective with older donors – if you're accompanied by an older colleague. It can get tricky to reconcile the differences in the relationships, but ultimately, I think it presents a great opportunity for collaboration and leadership to grow.

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  • adrienneh

    This is all very encouraging and wonderful. Philanthropy has been a real mystery to me. I want help but knowing how and coming up with different ways and ideas has posed a serious challenge for me. I will definetely be checking out those sights you posted, thanks!

  • http://www.wilsonusman.com/ Wilson Usman

    Wow with all the optimistic ideas that you have I can see why the way we do things are changing. I think us the Gen-Y are tired and frustrated of the way we've been brought up to believe life should be and we are going to be changing people's lives with our ideas. I know that if I just keep living a 9 to 5 life I won't be able to make any change for the world and it kills me that people don't see this, but hopefully through my ideas and my believe that everything will change I can help someone.

  • http://www.starcraftstrategiescenter.com/starcraft-2-campaign/ Sam @ Starcraft 2 Campaign

    Philanthropy, it is my hope, will become a bigger and bigger part of Gen Y. With all these young people striking it rich and setting an example, that opens up the door for the rest of us to give back. Great post!

  • http://www.smallhandsbigideas.com Grace Boyle

    @Sam I hope so too! Thanks for sharing and popping by :)