The Third Millennium Philanthropy and Leadership Initiative

The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana Universityy

As is often discussed in contemporary society, the United States is becoming increasingly diverse in terms of race, religion, ethnicity, and culture. Also discussed is the fact that members of these groups collectively will become the majority population in the U.S., perhaps as early as 2050. This profound demographic shift will inevitably have an impact on the practice of philanthropy in the decades to come.

Partly in recognition of these facts, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation seeks to facilitate the understanding and expansion of philanthropy – and philanthropic leadership – within and from these communities. For example, Kellogg has taken an interest in facilitating the knowledge and skills that women and people color need to assume senior leadership positions in the philanthropic sector. Additionally, Kellogg has a deep interest in attracting the "next generation" of philanthropic leaders. After careful deliberation, Kellogg chose the Center on Philanthropy to help bring this mission to life through the Third Millennium Philanthropy & Leadership Initiative (Millennium).

Millennium approaches this task in large measure by learning from current philanthropic leaders – donors, non-profit leaders, and philanthropic executives – who have a great deal of knowledge to share. In taking on this work, the Center gains insight into the nature of leadership among our core constituents, as well as an understanding of the challenges and issues they face. In other words, the Center is approaching this Initiative from the perspective that it has as much to learn and gain as it has to offer.

The team assigned to lead Millennium connects current leaders to each other through conferences, lectures, and peer networking, as well as with fundraising curricula and Web-based resources. The Center also sponsors and conducts research, including a series of case studies of leaders to understand better their successes and failures and what they foresee as key success traits for future leaders to possess.

Millennium draws on the Center's research expertise as well as its past and current involvement with our core constituents. For example, the Center is home to the Women's Philanthropy Institute and has also held symposia in recent years on topics related to African-Americans and youth.

Finally, Millennium partners with several organizations in this endeavor. Among these groups are the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE), Learning to Give (LTG), the Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana (YPII), and The Fundraising School (TFRS). TFRS’ structure allows the valuable knowledge of participants to be integrated into its courses. Additionally, TFRS has guided the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) by inviting disclosure of the participants' knowledge and experiences, and building upon this collective wisdom.