Just a year ago in an article discussing the changing culture of
nonprofits and the failing economy, I examined the decline of the nonprofit
sector due to its failure of facing the realities of a changing market and
demographic.* Following this marked decline, in just a few years we have seen an
increasing flow of new blood in the sector . . . young leaders (I dislike
tagging them “millennial”) are bringing a new passion and desire to impact
their society.
To this aging Boomer, having served most of my vocation in nonprofits,
this brings a surprising feeling of promise and a desire to see them become
empowered in a way my generation failed to realize through our efforts in the ‘60s
and ‘70s.
This upwelling of philanthropic youth is more than evident here at the
50th International Conference of Fundraising in San Diego. The San Diego Convention
Center is teeming with young people, wherein such a conference a decade ago would
have witnessed an older attendee. In a review class for the CFRE – a certification
for those with fundraising experience – there were quite a few young people who
obviously did not bring experience of the level normally expected to such a
class. I propose that not a few of them thought some of the material and
processes discussed a bit mechanistic and antiquated. Additionally, the crowd
was standing room only and overflowing the room of the First Timers orientation
meeting. This leads me to wonder what is
the impetus of these new fundraisers?
For those of us who have long been involved in nonprofit fund
development, we may recognize the surge of funds now flowing from our
generation’s estates, and how best to help divert them from the government and
invest in charitable efforts. I sense, however, that the new conference attendees
are not so much interested in investing these funds, but rather investing
themselves in the empowerment of others. They recognize the weakness of
government and institutions to meet the growing gap in services and bring a new
paradigm to the task.
While wanting to encourage and empower this new generation, we need to
sensitively guide them and their enthusiasm into this sector. Just as the ‘90s
saw a growth of nonprofits that was impossible to properly fund, we can allow
them to be change agents within existing organizations, as well as lead
collaborations, acquisitions, and mergers which will increase capacity, reduce
duplications, and bring a new face and paradigm to, not just the nonprofit
sector, but to the for-profit sector and world-wide commerce as well.
How we assist, educate, encourage and empower this emerging leadership
will be the fulcrum on which their impact is leveraged.
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