Philanthropy: Engaging and Equipping the Next Generation

How will the next generation of leaders contribute to the world of philanthropy or will they? Giving time, money and talent has been a hallmark of society in America for decades and even centuries. People have given their time, talent and treasure to schools, churches, civic organizations and a host of other nonprofit endeavors. Previous generations, including both my parents and grandparents, did their part to support and give of themselves. It was engrained in their culture. 
 
We now have an intelligent and sophisticated group of young people that will soon enter the workforce. We need to be sure to expose this next generation to philanthropy the way the last two generations before me. 
 
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina is embarking on a new partnership designed to educate and inspire today’s college students about the world of philanthropy. Our goal is to help them understand the philosophical underpinnings of the philanthropic sector by hearing and learning from leaders across the southeast. We help educate students about the operational and organizational aspects of the field of philanthropy including: 

• What it means to serve on a board
• What it means to create a Trust to give funds to the community
• What it means to work in the field of philanthropy and nonprofits
• What the jobs are in these sectors and what skills are needed to fill those jobs
• How to understand issues that impact the community and 
• How an individual can make a difference.

Once these areas are covered, the students will create a project that will benefit an underserved population in their community. The project will build on the students’ skills and abilities. “Hands on” experiences have much value and enable students to learn and grow very quickly. It is an opportunity to put into practice what they are taught in the classroom. 
 
With their peers, students will explore the breadth and depth of the nonprofit sector, acquiring the aptitude, knowledge and network to engage with philanthropy in a deliberate way. In the coming months, the Foundation will announce the partnership and this new program for next generation leaders.
 
I am very optimistic about the upcoming generation of leaders. Given the right tools and exposure to good role models, they will carry the torch of leadership in philanthropy well into the future. As a philanthropic Foundation, we will do our part to ensure this happens. 

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina

Listening to the Next Generation

We are driving through the Pee Dee of South Carolina where the roads are narrow and the pine trees are tall. We pass cotton fields, tobacco farms, and get a true taste of rural South Carolina. We make our way to Marlboro County. We enter the community of Bennettsville. It is the boyhood home of legendary banker Hugh McColl. Bennettsville, South Carolina, mirrors many small rural communities in the South. The town is busy but there are signs and examples that it has seen better days from dilapidated buildings, closed businesses, empty stores and warehouses, vacant homes and abandoned cars and equipment.
 

We arrive at Marlboro County High School. It has been a while since I have been in a high school. It is remarkably clean. I begin my experience with a positive feeling. The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina is here to listen to students about issues they face in their lives and in their community. We want their perspective on things. A mixture of Foundation board and staff has traveled to the “listening session.”  We meet the principal who is professional, well spoken and very engaged with his students. They like him too; you can tell by the way they interact. Then we meet the students.  I am not really sure what I expected, but I know I got a whole lot more than I anticipated from these kids.
 
The students gathered and we broke into small groups. I had seven at my table and we just talked. Every one of them had aspirations to do great things. One wanted to be a lawyer. Another one to be an accountant then another wanted to be a psychologist. But their dreams were tempered. They realized that their dreams were certainly unprecedented because they would be the first in their families to attend college. They also acknowledged that the hill to climb to get an education beyond high school and to get a good job was going to be steep. They all said they would have to move away from Marlboro County to be successful. But they might come back later to “give back to the community.”
 
The students love the community and they love their school. They love their families and participate in many school and church activities. But the town has little to offer. No jobs, no recreation and an unwillingness to change, coupled with a lack of vision for the future. I offered each student an imaginary $1,000 to spend to help others. They chose scholarships for needy students, temporary assistance for needy families, feeding the hungry and helping the elderly. One wanted to spend his money on bringing the community stakeholders together to create a common vision for the town. Wow!
 
If this group is representative of what our next generation is going to be like, then I am not worried at all. They will do just fine and perhaps better than we have done. They have a vision for their lives and their community and are willing to change things to make life better for other people. All we have to do is remove the obstacles we have placed in front of them and create a pathway for the next generation to reach their goals and dreams. If that happens, then towns like Bennettsville, South Carolina, do have a future.

 Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina

Leaders of the Future Must have Different Skills

It is time for baby boomers to face the fact that our time is running out in the work force. Unless, we plan to work until we are 80, then our years are dwindling quickly and, sooner than later, we will be gone. You might ask, “so what?” and that is precisely why I write this.

I believe there is going to be a gaping hole between current leadership in the philanthropic world and the next group of leaders. Why? Because we don’t really have a plan in place to truly prepare the next group of leaders, and the skills and abilities needed for the next generation of leaders is going to be vastly different than those we exercise today.

Reflecting on when I first started with the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina back in the mid-90s, I think about how we only had one computer in the entire office and it belonged to the secretary. Everything was copied and filed manually. We still used an electric typewriter for goodness sakes! We transformed in the past 15 years and will continue to evolve in the next 15 years with new and innovative ways to operate. Information technology, communications, social media, etc. is at an accelerated pace.

Information technology will be the single most important force that will drive philanthropy over the next two decades. I think about the goals of the Sisters of Charity Foundation in the coming years. We will utilize technology to teach and train hundreds more nonprofit practitioners than ever before. We will communicate and inform through mediums that have not be used before. We will report and share findings in exciting new ways. We will be able to take the Foundation office with us no matter where we go. Everything will be a click away.

The next generation leaders must be willing and able to embrace this reality and treat it as an opportunity. We have a chance to make philanthropy more efficient, more informative and with better and more definable results. This may also change staffing patterns and the role of staff. Our future leaders will be able to utilize new tools and analyze old methods to improve the organization’s overall effectiveness both internally and externally. There is no prescriptive CEO manual that we can hand to the next generation of leaders. It is not available and it shouldn’t be. To me, it will come down to a select group of people that are high energy yet compassionate, mission-driven, flexible, innovative and technologically savvy.

People are at the heart of our work in philanthropy and that should never change. However, doing business in 2025 is going to be a whole new ballgame. I hope I am still alive to see these leaders in action. It will be as invigorating and exciting as anything you could ever imagine and I think the opportunities are endless. Oh, if only I was age 35 again!

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina