About two years ago, a foundation leader paid us—the Council—a compliment when he said, “This is not your Grandfather’s Council on Foundations.” The comment was meant to honor the emerging changes at the Council, as we sought to provide both sector-specific membership services and sector-wide philanthropic leadership.
Recently I realized, it’s not even my generation’s philanthropy!
At [...]

There was something a little different about the Next Generation Retreat this year. Co-conceived by 21/64 and Resource Generation and held for the past seven years at the Family Philanthropy Conference, this half-day interactive session is geared towards those in their 20s and 30s contemplating their role—present and future—in their family’s philanthropy.
What the facilitators noticed [...]

Sunday morning’s informal gathering (Coffee with the On Deck Generation) for those who feel “in between”—the group that finds itself between the founders and the third generation—attracted more than 30 participants. They were polled about their core issues and given the time to meet and talk in small groups about the challenges they face.
Three issues [...]

Imagine an intimate gathering in your living room with a small group of book club friends discussing their latest good read. Now tweak that cozy image by a factor of five and re-imagine a conference room filled with 30 people assembled for a chat about the Jeff Jarvis book, “What Would Google Do?”
In the [...]

“Never estimate what children can do,” said both Kevin Salwen and Jenny Yancey in the workshop—Charting Their Course: Raising the Next Generation of Givers. Salwen and Yancey’s teenage children demonstrated how true this is by presenting two incredibly creative and effective philanthropic projects.
Few youngsters can convince their parents to sell their homes and use half [...]

My first few hours in the Family Philanthropy Conference bookstore and Connections Cafe have resulted in some fantastic conversations. We’re talking a lot about “Next Gen” and the ways in which this group has become involved with causes and activities.
The explosion of social media tools has allowed millennials to quickly mobilize and generate a groundswell [...]

Here at the Family Philanthropy Conference, my roommate is Zac Russell, a third generation member of The Russell Family Foundation.  Zac, a college senior in New York, showed me the contact cards he’s giving out at the conference.
The face of each card dislpays a different photo of Zac in his world-working on the family farm, [...]

[Editor’s note: With the Council’s Family Philanthropy Conference set to begin on Sunday, January 31, we asked our 21 conference bloggers to tell us a question they think family philanthropy needs to explore as the San Diego conference begins. Here’s Amy Zell Ellsworth's answer. Ellsworth is senior philanthropic advisor and New England International Donors (NEID) program manager at The [...]

[Editor’s note: With the Council’s Family Philanthropy Conference set to begin on Sunday, January 31, keep up with the plenaries and sessions by following our 21 conference bloggers who will share their thoughts and impressions. Blogger Kari Dunn Saratovsky, vice president for Social Innovation at the Case Foundation, will moderate the closing plenary with “What [...]