Children and Charities: A Reason to Hope
Most nonprofits shut down the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, and I followed suit to focus on family, friends, and relaxation. However, my travels last weekend took me to the greater D.C. metro area, and I found a fascinating piece in Sunday’s Washington Post about the rise in philanthropic giving by children. Apparently kids are doing more with those confounded newfangled gadgets than chatting with each other about algebra class:
Young children and teenagers across the nation are getting involved in philanthropy more than ever, according to research and nonprofit experts, who credit new technologies with the rise of the trend. As young people increasingly become exposed to and connected with the problems of the world via the Internet and television, experts said, parents are finding new ways to instill in their children the value of giving.
At the same time, technology is democratizing philanthropy so giving is not only easier for people of all ages and means, but also trendier. And children are starting to organize at the grass-roots level to give.
What an inspiring way to ring in the new year! The lesson for nonprofits is that their giving prospects need not be limited to deep-pocketed donors. The lesson for the rest of us is that with kids like this leading the way, our future might not be as bleak as we often fear. | 501(c)
