Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates -- that’s probably who pops into your mind when you think of philanthropists. But in Washtenaw County and elsewhere, younger donors are also making a difference for nonprofit organizations. Maybe not with big checks, but by pooling their money, giving their time, and serving on boards.
If young people get involved in the day-to-day action of nonprofits, organizations hope that they’ll continue to be involved until and after they can afford to be more generous with their money. And there are plenty of ways for those young donors to start having an effect right away.
Among the nonprofit work Michael and Christina Nisson participate in is the
Next Generation Philanthropists group, through the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. The idea is like a giving circle: A group of one to two dozen younger donors pool their financial gifts, and then select a variety of nonprofits to receive grants from that larger fund.
Since its inception in 2007 and first donations a year later, the NGP has meted out more than $100,000 in grant money to nonprofits. Recipients might include the
Ann Arbor Art Center, the
Leslie Science and Nature Center, or
Ele’s Place, a healing center for grieving children and teens. That the group is made up of younger people might be less intimidating for other prospective donors looking to get involved.
Plus, it’s a good network for personal connections: Christina, 27, and Michael, 31, say they have made some of their closest friends through the group, in part because everyone has the shared interest of wanting to get involved in and improve the community. The two are managing partners at their own investment firm, CNM Capital, and see the side benefit of making work contacts through the group, as most are young professionals. In some cases, members find their first nonprofit board position through the connections they make there.
"As a 27-year-old, I might not have felt comfortable sending my resume out to nonprofits," Christina says. "But nonprofits come to us looking for young people. That let us know our perspective is really valued."
Time is money too
Michael says he’s seen that as baby boomers transition out of leadership positions and retire, nonprofits welcome younger donors and volunteers, along with their new perspectives and skills they have.
Christina says that first "in" with a nonprofit -- whether it’s through a business contact or a golf outing -- is often to enough for someone to see they see that they can bring something to an organization, even if it’s not money.
“The younger generation tends to have less money to give, but people tend to value things we can give, especially time and energy,” Christina says. “Organizations appreciate other kinds of giving.”
Shelley Strickland agrees. As the Vice President for Development and Donor Services at the
Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, she says it's not that young people aren't philanthropic, but many give through service, expertise, or referrals through their network. For example, if a cause is important to them, they'll share with their Facebook friends that they're involved -- and invite others to get involved, too.
She points to the title of Robert L. Payton's book
Philanthropy: Voluntary Action for the Public Good, meaning that "voluntary action" isn’t always writing a check, but often donating time or serving in other ways. And one important factor is to get younger people involved with nonprofits early on so they can give financially when then have the means to do so later in life.
"It's not that young people aren't giving -- we know they are,” she says. “It's not just for older people. It's not just someone who writes a check.”
Strickland is also a Ph.D. and lecturer at the University of Michigan, teaching a fundraising and philanthropy class connected to a program where students work in fundraising, the Development Summer Internship Program. That involvement during college often sets students up for doing more pro bono and volunteer work when they become professionals.
And oftentimes, it starts even earlier than that. For example, the next generation of donors has done hours of community service as requirements for junior high and high school graduation. "That is philanthropy, too," Strickland says. "All of that is tied to the bigger picture of philanthropy."
While actual amounts of money donated will depend on the state of the economy, the Nissons agree that Ann Arbor's charitable giving scene is pretty consistent. Christina Nisson points out that if less money is coming to an organization in the form of government funding, more work must be done to make up for that money lost.
"A lot of organizations in Ann Arbor have done a good job making sure they didn't have to pull back on services," she says. "Even if the community is struggling financially, they recognize that this is something valuable."
Michael Nisson adds that young people tend to think of philanthropy as writing big checks, but that's not always the case. "That's of course extremely helpful, and any organization would be happy to receive a big check," he says. "But a lot of stuff can be done at an organic level."
Next generation boards
Ann Arborites Christina and Charles Kim are also members of the Next Generation Philanthropists group. In fact, Christina was involved with the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation's Youth Council, made up of students from area schools who discuss and choose grant recipients. Partly as a result of that, Christina has a special fondness for teen-related nonprofits, such as the
Neutral Zone, a youth community and art center, and
826michigan, a local chapter of a national organization of writing and tutoring centers.
Both Christina, a financial advisor, and Charles, an IT consultant, are under 40 and come from families with a long history of giving to both local and international organizations. It was natural for them to plug themselves back into the nonprofit community when they came back to the area several years ago -- about the same time the NGP group was picking up steam and making its first donations.
Christina says the group is a good fit for people who want to be philanthropic but don’t have the ability to write big checks quite yet. Pooling their resources allows them to make significant gifts, but the group is small enough that it’s still personal.
"It's become much larger than meeting once a month," she says. "It's been pretty amazing to see how it’s grown."
And for those who only have time or skills to give, Christina points out that many organizations are looking to add younger people to their boards.
"A lot of folks in our demographic have unique skill sets" -- social media and work skills among them -- "and that’s definitely a need that's out there," she says. "There are ways to give beyond the bottom line."
Thirty-six year-old Joe Malcoun is a younger donor, sure, but he also knows about those "other" ways of giving. The Ann Arbor resident and CEO at
Nutshell CRM is involved with the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation through a different giving circle, the Social Capital Fund, which focuses more on small yet impactful grants to nonprofits that serve families and youth.
Most of his philanthropic work is dedicated toward
826michigan, the writing and tutoring center the Kims are also involved with, and Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair, which supports the program. He discovered the 826 program while living in San Francisco, its birthplace, and is a fan of author Dave Eggers, its founder. When he heard a chapter was opening in Michigan, he jumped in; he also sits on the national board.
Malcoun points out that sitting on boards isn't necessarily reserved for older people who are established in their careers. His wife, Caitlin Klein, also 36, is a board member herself; she sits on board of
Growing Hope, an Ypsilanti nonprofit that empowers communities to grow and eat healthy food.
"Boards strive for diversity in age, race and expertise," Malcoun says. "It is probably one of the most important forms of philanthropy."
Plus, younger board members can help draw in the younger volunteers and donors. Branding also helps: Malcoun says the 826 organization's whimsical robot store helps engage young people, getting them in the door and involved.
"Caitlin and I enjoy being generous with our financial support, but it's a substitute for the fact that we can't give our time," he says.
Leading by example
One younger philanthropist who has more time to donate is Joseph Sutkowi, 25, also a former community foundation youth council member in his hometown of Greenville, and a new member of the Next Generation Philanthropists group.
Most of Sutkowi's donated hours go toward the American Red Cross' Disaster Action Team in Washtenaw and Lenawee counties, responding to disasters such as house fires and recruiting and training volunteers. His day job is the Assistant Director of Foundation Relations for the University of Michigan, and he only half jokes that his boss is also a proponent of volunteering and therefore able to accommodate his crabbiness on the days he has to get up at 2:30 a.m. to respond to a disaster.
Sutkowi is also involved with the
Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) of Washtenaw County, which focuses on building networks and job skills, and the Ypsilanti Youth Orchestra board, to which he gives his fundraising expertise.
He has a special interest in figuring out how to get young people involved and donating, as part of his service sitting on a national American Red Cross board of young professionals.
"I tend to work with college interns and retirees, and not many people in between," he says. "[Millennials] are kind of missing from our organization."
The young professionals board is looking at engaging graduate students in the public health work the Red Cross does. Already, undergrads are involved with things such as first aid services at athletic events and fairs. The trick is keeping them involved after graduation.
He's found that young people tend to get involved when they can participate in immediate action, and when they can be involved in the decision-making process. The amount of training for the Red Cross, while necessary for delicate situations such as house fires, is likely a turnoff for young people who want to be engaged right away.
"Making it so that they feel like their voices are heard, their opinions are wanted by an organization, getting young people involved -- those can be really valuable," he says.
Sutkowi also finds that when young people see that their donations do matter, even if it’s a small amount, they feel it was a worthwhile gift.
"Something I've seen the University of Michigan do really well is showing that every gift matters," he says. "You see Stephen Ross’ (recent gift to the university of) $200 million -- I don't have that much money lying around. But if you can show what $25 can do, even if you're not making a transformational gift there's still room for you and there's still a need for you. Getting that message in front of young people is really valuable."
Take it from Taylor VanEtten Carr. Currently taking a gap year after graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in architecture, and now working and applying to graduate schools, she spent the summer working with the
Development Summer Internship Program (D-SIP), the same for which Strickland teaches the classroom component.
She worked for
NEW (Nonprofit Enterprise at Work): Solutions for Nonprofits, helping the philanthropy officer come up with an annual giving plan. VanEtten Carr, 22, says raising funds was a hard sell -- they aren't helping homeless people or rescuing animals, after all -- but necessary because of the sheer volume of nonprofits NEW assists. (NEW just won the
RiseDetroit Charity Challenge and the $50,000 grand prize, which will allow it to make an even bigger difference for those nonprofits.)
Among her findings were that while social media allows young people to be aware of other cultures, it's not necessarily the answer to getting them involved in nonprofits.
"Most millennials would prefer someone approaching them face-to-face and inviting them in," she says. "Getting young people into the space physically is probably the most important. Young people want to be there and they want to get their hands dirty. [Then] when we do hit our mid-30s and 40s, we're able to donate even more."
The D-SIP work is only the most recent in VanEtten Carr's volunteer history; she started in high school in Myrtle Beach, a large part with a prom dress boutique for low-income students. And as a student at the University of Michigan, she started working for the Telefund fundraising call center, and was one of two students to work there those four years that raised more than $100,000.
Partly as a result of that history, VanEtten Carr says she’s specifically looking at Master of Architecture programs that incorporate community action.
"I think that philanthropy will continue to be a role in what work I do and how I make it meaningful," she says, whether it's designing buildings for nonprofits or helping rebuild communities hit by natural disasters.
And she's not ruling out joining a nonprofit board -- the same advice offered by so many other local philanthropists. "They don’t want our money. They want our minds," VanEtten Carr says. "As millennials and recent graduates, we look at things totally differently. And we bring fresh ideas."
How to get started: A giving guide
Local philanthropists have a few tips for people who are looking to get involved as donors but may not know how to start:
1. Start with umbrella organizations, such as the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, the United Way, or NEW: Solutions for Nonprofits
2. Make a list of things you’re interested in or causes you care about
3. If you have a cause you’re very passionate about, find an organization and ask to join the board
4. Visit Guidestar.org to learn more about organizations you’re considering
5. Be open to causes or nonprofits that you might not have thought of getting involved with
6. Send an email; a nonprofit would likely be happy to hear you want to get involved
7. Starting asking around and telling people you’d like to get more involved
8. Keep in mind that you’ll want to work with an organization that fits your personality
9. Look for an organization that hosts events you’ll be interested in
10. Be open to organizations your friends are involved in, as you’ll likely be able to get involved more quickly
11. Find something that could be useful to your career or advancement
Kristin Lukowski is a Detroit-based freelance writer
All photos by Doug Coombe