Your Giving, Your Way

Whether you inherited wealth, sold a business, or went through a tech IPO, wealth can create intense, sudden pressure to be a successful, visible donor. Ignore this pressure and focus on your personal journey to forge a unique philanthropic identity with these four tips.

It’s no secret that younger generations want to donate wealth in a way that is different from their predecessors. It is a recurring trend in interviews and conversations with next-generation donors, and supported by research including the recently released 2022 Bank of America Study of Wealthy Americans, which found that 76% of respondents want to “establish their own philanthropic identity, differentiated from their family.”

Many younger donors are well on their way to creating a unique philanthropic identity, but for those who are struggling to get started it can feel like a daunting challenge to become a capital-P “Philanthropist.” Regardless of their level of wealth, younger donors who are charitably inclined can take the following steps to start building a unique, authentic philanthropic identity that honors their personal values and traditions while working to build a better future for all. 

You don’t need to be at 100% on Day 1

Building a unique philanthropic identity takes time. Have patience with yourself, and start small with efforts that feel manageable to you. 

Regardless if you have inherited wealth, sold a business, or benefited from a tech IPO, there can be an incredible amount of pressure to start performing philanthropy as soon as funds are available. This belies the truth that it takes time, education, and dedication to become comfortable with giving away larger amounts of money. 

Newer donors should try and tune out these social pressures and remember that giving is a marathon, not a sprint. If things go well, you may have 50+ years to give away your wealth - don’t expect yourself to be an expert on Day 1. 

Start by focusing your efforts on organizations with which you are already familiar and tuning into their efforts more intentionally. Consider how giving to this organization makes you feel. What projects resonate strongly with you? What do you want to learn more about? Becoming an effective donor is a learning journey and the first step is figuring out the right questions to ask.

Build your community of support

Learning to be a better donor shouldn’t happen in a vacuum. Take time to connect with other donors that are at a similar stage in their philanthropy, and see how this community can inspire and support your giving journey. 

Younger donors may find it difficult to connect with a like-minded philanthropic community, especially outside the U.S.’s largest metropolitan areas. The conversations that these communities spark, however, are essential to growing as a donor and establishing a unique philanthropic identity. 

Look for organizations that are creating opportunities for next-generation donors to connect and consider how you can build on those relationships. Many community foundations and giving circles offer specific opportunities for younger donors. While you may not want to keep conversations within the confines of those groups, they can be a helpful jumping-off point to meet other individuals that are on a similar journey.

Building a team of professionals around you can lighten the load of feeling like you need to be an expert in the causes about which you are passionate. At Sunnybranch, I work with donors who are committed to building their individual philanthropic identity, supporting them by providing research, best practices, and a listening ear. Giving back is a journey, and it isn’t one that you are expected to undertake alone. 

Consider other ways to give 

A true impact strategy requires engaging with the political process. This can be overwhelming for donors that haven’t pursued advocacy work, but starting small creates the building blocks for success. 

Traditional conversations around philanthropy focus on nonprofit organizations, but political giving and advocacy work are essential components of building a unique philanthropic strategy. Wanting things to be done differently than previous generations means that reforms will need to be made not only in the non-profit sector but also at the governmental level. 

As your philanthropic strategy starts to come into focus, consider how political giving and advocacy work can support your goals. Although these gifts aren’t tax-deductible, they are a crucial part of creating change over time. Your work may include advocating for policies you support at the local, state, or national level, or committing time or energy to elect a slate of candidates that would champion the causes you hold dear. 

This can be an especially daunting part of a philanthropic journey for individuals who haven’t previously engaged with advocacy work or the political system. Just as with giving to nonprofits, it is best to start small with one specific issue or candidate. The side benefit of advocacy work is that you will find no shortage of younger individuals who are passionately engaged in this work, regardless of their capacity to make significant donations on either the nonprofit or political side. 

Acknowledge and learn from your mistakes 

Stumbling blocks to creating a meaningful and fulfilling personal philanthropic strategy abound, but successful donors will integrate lessons learned into their path forward to make their giving stronger in the future.

It is often assumed that people with wealth have some inherent understanding of how to “do” philanthropy. This is (1) fundamentally untrue and (2) extremely harmful to the nonprofit sector, which is filled with dedicated, passionate experts who have spent careers trying to solve and mitigate our society’s most pressing and intractable problems. 

When you are starting out, it can seem wrong to admit that you don’t know what you're doing, want to change course, or made a mistake. Fight this impulse! Just like in any other area of life, the people that are the most successful are those who can admit failures and use those lessons learned to course-correct future endeavors. 

Becoming a successful, engaged, and fulfilled philanthropist is a lifelong learning journey that requires donors to be consistently responsive and thoughtful in their approach and methods. Starting out on this journey is no different. Don’t pressure yourself to pretend you have all the answers, but take the time to learn from those around you who have been engaged donors for many years or have spent their time on the front lines of the issues where you would like to create impact. 

Taking the first step 

These tips should give many younger donors validation that they are on the right path or ideas for next steps for those who are at a point of stasis. 

However, if you are overwhelmed with the impact you feel you “should” be creating, I encourage you to reach out to me at Sunnybranch Wealth. Regardless of where you came from in life, it can be difficult to translate a spirit of giving into a concrete plan to create impact in the face of overwhelming need. This is not a journey that anyone should have to undertake alone, and resources exist to help you take the next step into building your own unique philanthropic identity.