With Purpose Success, part 6

U.K.'s Third Sector. "Changes in amount and source of wealth are giving rise to a new type of donor," the Web site reports. "One who is younger, typically (but not necessarily) self-made and socially conscious. The new philanthropists want to be engaged in their giving, using their business experience and expertise to support the charity more closely. They also are willing to invest a significant amount of capital-including funding core costs-and take significant risks to test innovative ideas. Importantly, because they are private individuals, they are able to take risks that government and many foundations, who are accountable to other stakeholders, simply cannot."
Across the globe, a new generation of givers wants solutions, not Band-Aids, and they demand measurable results. Millions of common people-everyday philanthropists, or Everymanthropists-are striking out on their own in a downsized version of what titans are doing. They are using their smarts and energy to fund and launch personalized non- profits dedicated to causes that speak to their souls. Everymanthropists want results as well, and most want nothing to do with emptying bed pans and cold calling potential donors. They want to give back a talent, share what they've learned, and see the impact they make. Traditional volunteer opportunities do not cater to them. So they are crafting their own, a phenomenon that I will return to often throughout this book.
Success to Significance
The potential of a retirement revolution, where millions and millions of long-lived accomplished men and women offer their skills and time to the world, is nothing short of staggering. Yet not nearly enough is being done to harness this vast resource. In study after study people past forty-five indicate their willingness to give of their time-but don't follow through because they don't know how to get started. We squander a valuable asset by not finding ways to tap into this desire. "We in the government always think about the aging of boomers in terms of their departure from the world of work and contribution-to being recipients of entitlements," confesses Robert Reich, the former U.S. Labor Secretary. "We don't have it as part of our equation that they might be contributors, that they might be givers. Can we imagine an army of ten million or fifty million retirees contributing their skills, time, and energy to transform the world? That would be something."
So these were some of the many thoughts filling my head as we wound down our work on the book I mentioned and prepared for its launch in
September 2005. At the same time, though, I was ramping up to full prepublication mode, planning the book publicity tour and dreaming about how well the book might sell. Could it be the great book of my career?
Might it lead to fame and fortune? (Hey, I said I was dreaming!) Anyway, it was at this moment that Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, and I, like many
Americans, sat helpless in front of the TV for many hours, spellbound by the destruction and ruined lives before me. I was stirred by the incredible devastation being brought down on the city and dismayed by our nation's slow response.
How could we be living in the twenty-first century with all our advanced technology and just watch as the days unfolded and these good people struggled without relief? I still had the "Leaving a Legacy" chapter in my head and began to reflect: how did I, Ken Dychtwald, want to be known when my days ended? What would be my legacy?