Wednesday, February 18, may have been Ash Wednesday and there may have been those who were recovering from the Fat Tuesday revelry, but leave it to those industrious types at Communities Foundation of Texas. Here’s a report from the field about its Cause-Minded Conversation:
How do Traditionalists, Boomers, GenXers and Millennials differ in how they give? That question sparked the Cause-Minded Conversation at Communities Foundation of Texas. The talk was led by Sharna Goldseker, one of the nation’s best-known experts on next-generation philanthropy.
She discussed the different ways that younger and older philanthropists donate and how NextGen donors can have a positive and lasting impact on Dallas and other cities. The evening was very interactive with each table talking about how each generation was shaped by its times and what values that instilled. The event was part of CFT’s forward-thinking Cause-Minded Conversations series on philanthropy and also covered the report titled #NextGenDonors, a first-of-its-kind study of high-capacity next-generation donors in the U.S., those who fit into “Gen X” (born 1964-1980) and “Gen Y/Millenial” (born 1981-2000). Co-author Sharna Goldseker summarized her study’s four key findings about the next gen donors:
- Driven by values, not valuables. They respect the privilege they’ve inherited or that comes with the wealth they are creating. They are motivated by deeply seated values.
- Impact first. They see “philanthropic strategy” as the major distinguishing factor between themselves and previous generations. They want impact they can see and want to know that their own involvement has contributed to that impact.
- Time, talent, treasure and ties. They want to develop close relationships with nonprofits they support—to offer their time and talent, treasure and ties. They have peer networks that they expect to learn from and leverage.
- Crafting their philanthropic identities. Rather than waiting until the sunset of their lives to decide what legacies they want to leave, these Next Gen major donors are actively crafting their philanthropic identities and legacies now.
To learn more about family philanthropy at CFT, visit www.cftexas.org/families.
* Photos provided by Communities Foundation of Texas