Navigating Your Family's Philanthropic Future Across Generations

Principal Findings and Outlook

Principal Findings and Outlook

“The mission is to focus on children with special needs. As “special needs,” we define physical or mental problems. I’m very interested in family relations, children who have no parents, or children in institutions. All these causes are very altruistic. We are also interested in research. We have a few programs in clinical research; for instance, the stress of the mother and how it will impact the child, and what can be done as prevention.” Female philanthropist, Europe, 1st gen

Seeking to solve or address a problem or issue by creating and delivering your own solution

Seeking or soliciting requests for support from organizations that offer ready-made solutions for specific issues and problems

Although, many philanthropists actively engage with their beneficiaries to co-create solutions to their needs, there might be instances when, even with the best intentions in mind, they might apply the “solution push” approach. As the philanthropists in our study have experienced, less frequently, it can lead to better results. “We had one negative experience in Asia because we visited a place where there were very young children around − three or four years old and they were very sad. We wanted to do something with these children. We thought that we had great ideas . Then, a few months later, we understood that they [the orphanage] didn’t want our help and that was very disappointing. I think it’s our fault, because we wanted to go too fast , and we wanted to do too much . They were not ready. They had problems inside their institution, so it was complicated.” Female philanthropist, Europe, 1st gen

Giving to causes and projects on a local level only

Supporting more general and globally relevant causes

As families grow larger, older and more geographically spread out, their focus tends to shift to giving at a more global level. Many families decide to distribute their philanthropic resources across multiple destinations, that is, at local and global levels at the same time ( see Figure 14 ). Figure 14 : Giving destination

Aligning your giving purely with your core business activities

Giving to causes and projects that have no link to your business

Family philanthropists see greater value in channeling their giving in a way that aligns with their business activities, perhaps to harness professional expertise and networks or to foster a more cohesive approach across the family enterprise system.

“There is a cause that we are starting to support, and that is in connection with our business. We have identified climate change as kind of a different category for the business , but also as a category for philanthropy . We are exploring how we can support climate change as an area of opportunity for philanthropy.” Male philanthropist, North America, 1st gen “The basic assumption of my father was that our company has a strong commitment and impact on the topic of health . He therefore decided to focus his philanthropic work on another domain. He is more on the human side and education; I’m more on the environment and climate change aspect.” Male philanthropist, Europe, 3rd gen

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Navigating Your Family’s Philanthropic Future Across Generations

Navigating Your Family’s Philanthropic Future Across Generations