A New Conversation for Change

Your Chief FLiP Will Schneider and I were enticed (easily, I might add, by wine and hors d’ourves) to the New York Public Library last Tuesday.  The occasion?  The first of The Contribute Forum Series’ New Conversations for Change, this one focused on Youth & Philanthropy.  Contribute Magazine Founding Editor-in-Chief and News Division SVP Marcia Stepanek led the panel, whose members dished about the deep impact that millennials are making in the world of do-gooding.  Key takeaways:

• Citizen philanthropy is hot, and Charles Best should know. The DonorsChoose.org founder (and of late, superstar FLiP event speaker) has taken his NYC nonprofit national. DonorsChoose, which uses web auction-matching technology to link specific classroom needs with specific cause resources, is now open to every public school teacher in the country.
• Video games can change the world. Suzanne Seggerman, Co-Founder of Games for Change, believes this.  G4C is working to create games about social issues; Peacemaker, for example, allows the player to enter a documentary-like setup in which s/he works toward resolution of Middle East conflicts.
• Facebook cares about the greater good, says Causes application Co-Founder Joe Green.  Joe, 24, has seen the philanthropic add-on explode to reach more than 2.35 million members in the past six months.
• Millennials are money-savvy and want to work and give responsibly.  That’s why Martin Smith, 24, founded StartingBloc as a University of Chicago undergrad.  This for-profit incubator for social entrepreneurs is creating a network of young leaders committed to a more sustainable economy. Martin has also founded Just Means, a new social media platform for corporate responsibility that provides news, jobs, and networks for people who want to create change. In addition, younger generations are preparing to be part of an unprecedented transfer of wealth; that’s where Sharna Goldseker comes in.  Sharna runs 21/64, a new division of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, where she specializes in the next generation and multi-generational strategic philanthropy.

The bottom line for you, young FLiPs: you’re part of an exciting time in grantmaking and fundraising.  Stay tuned to FLiP this fall for more info about young founders, and for trend analysis of today’s digital, global philanthropic arena.