big institutions to solve the challenges of the day, nor do they wait for Boomers to retire to step into leadership roles. As the first “latchkey kids,” they are independent and adept at coming up with their own solutions. For example, while Boomers were still chairing the boards of major nonprofit institutions in the United States, Gen Xers were creating new organizations (Teach For America and the Knowledge Is Power Program, also known as KIPP Schools, for example) to solve pressing problems in our country.
The Millennial Generation (a.k.a. Gen Y, born between 1980 and 1995) garners much more attention and speculation than Gen X, in part because it is the largest generation over age 21 today, and one with massive purchasing power. Growing up as impressionable witnesses to the Columbine and Oklahoma City tragedies, Hurricane Katrina, and of course the 9/11 attacks, American Millennials experienced trauma on their own soil unlike any generation since the Civil War. But they also grew up with the Internet, cell phones, and social networking and saw both the financial boom of the 1990s and the recession that followed. Raised by helicopter parents trying to protect them from these traumas and handing out trophies for participating rather than winning, Millennials have come to be seen as the Selfie Generation – narcissistic and entitled.
But this unflattering view has changed as more Millennials have come into adulthood. Research has shown them to be much more socially conscious and interested in collective social engagement than originally thought. They expect corporations to be socially responsible, and they see technology as a tool for human progress. They use their horizontal, social‐network mentality to harness their peers for anything and everything, including social change. Raised to believe they can do whatever they want, Millennials now take that to mean they can change the world; better yet, they want to do so together. Maybe those participation trophies weren't such a bad idea after all.
If these are the generational personalities that inform how Gen Xers and Millennials in general engage in the world, will the major donors from these generations act and think along these lines? There is a growing body of research (cited throughout this book) on high‐net‐worth donors and lots of biographical accounts of big donors, but that research is focused almost exclusively on older generations. The social commentary on big Gen X and Millennial donors, by contrast, has mostly been about broad generational trends and/or based on second‐ and third‐hand sources. We haven't heard much from major next gen donors themselves, much less in their own words.
This book fills that gap, pulling back the curtain to reveal the next gen, posing questions directly to the donors of Generation Impact – people like Hadi Partovi, Hannah Quimby, and Alexander Soros – and recording their musings verbatim.
Hadi Partovi was born in Tehran, studied computer science at Harvard, and enjoyed tremendous success as a tech entrepreneur and early investor in companies like Facebook, Dropbox, and Airbnb. But instead of devoting himself to building an even bigger fortune, Hadi now funnels that business savvy into his work as CEO, cofounder, and principal donor to the nonprofit Code.org, pouring every asset he has – monetary or otherwise – into Code.org's mission of expanding access to computer science, especially for women and students of color.
Hannah Quimby spent her early years with her twin brother in rural Maine, in a cabin without electricity or running water. Her mother, Roxanne, met a beekeeper named Burt while hitchhiking, and over time built their small lip balm business into the Burt's Bees phenomenon. The Quimby family is now one of the largest philanthropic funders in Maine, and Hannah has taken the lead, determined to invest the family's resources in grassroots, hands‐on ways.
Alexander Soros is a PhD student in history at Cal‐Berkeley. But he is unlike his fellow students in notable ways. For one, he is studying Jewish intellectuals, a research subject he feels connected to because of his own heritage. And two, he is shaping history around the world through his own activist style of giving and through his roles in the global foundations created by his father, billionaire investor George Soros.
These three next gen donors, featured in later chapters, help illustrate how they and their peers will be the most significant philanthropists ever, not just because of how much they will give but because of how they intend to give.
To be clear, when we say the rising generation of big donors will be the most significant philanthropists ever, we are not saying that younger Gen Xers and maturing Millennials are more philanthropically minded or generous of spirit than previous generations.13 Plenty of people in their 20s and 30s – and plenty of wealthy young people – are not all that interested in philanthropy. In fact, the historic wealth concentration might mean we'll see even more stories of inordinately wealthy young people making non‐philanthropic choices (even downright misanthropic choices), relishing their position on top of the steep economic ladder without doing anything to help those below them.
But the fact remains that those members of the Gen X and Millennial generations who do want to give will have the unparalleled assets and entrepreneurial mindset to become the biggest, most influential donors in history.14 And many of them want to give now, so how they approach their giving is already starting to change things. They see waiting until they retire to start writing donation checks as uninspiring and uninspired. They want to give throughout their lives. And they want to give in new ways from the very start.
These next gen donors want to “do good” in their personal and professional lives, as well as philanthropically. Whether as investors, consumers, employers, business professionals, or volunteers, they want all their assets directed toward effecting social change, and they're willing to invest their expertise, time, and networks in addition to their financial largesse. They care less about having their names on a building and more about being inside the building or “on the ground,” sleeves rolled up, helping to solve problems. They want to use every tool available to meet their goals, including working closely with peers to achieve their visions. We'll explore this strategic, hands‐on, innovative, peer‐based approach throughout the book.
In Their Own Words
This book draws an in‐depth picture of what this different philanthropic footprint of next gen donors in the Unites States will look like, capturing who they are, how they want to give, and what it all means. For the past several years, through both formal research and by engaging directly with these game‐changing leaders, we've learned about their experiences, their strategies, and their dreams.
As we talked around the country about the results of our first phase of next gen donor research, we heard strong interest from diverse audiences in knowing more about this pivotal group of donors.15 People are intrigued by the individuals who are starting to change the world of giving and nonprofits, and who promise to have such a major impact on our world in the coming years. Next gen donors themselves are eager to hear how others in similar roles are becoming the donors they want to be. And those who engage directly with next gen donors, such as fundraising teams and advisors, want insight into how they can best help these donors achieve the wide and deep impact they hope to have on our social issues, our communities, and our planet. This book is a direct response to that widespread interest.
As authors, we come to this work with different professional orientations and personal experiences with giving. Sharna brings the access and insights of a trusted insider – a next gen donor herself – and the field expertise of a consultant and specialist in next generation engagement and multigenerational philanthropy. Michael brings his many years of scholarship and formal research training and his expertise as holder of the world's first‐ever endowed chair of family philanthropy. We offer quantitative and qualitative research, as well as 40 years of combined experience with next gen donors and their families and advisors.
What we share is genuine curiosity about these rising donors and a firm belief that we must learn more about them at this historic juncture – both to understand the revolution they're bringing and to help all of us make the most of it. In this book, we show you what this new revolution will look like by going straight to the sources and hearing it in their own