Giving Compass' Take:

• Larry McGill provides some highlights of the widespread growth in the last 50 years of giving in the Southern United States.

• Why is it important to reflect on our progress? How can the success of others inspire you to continue and expand your giving experience?

• Learn about how you can help inspire collaboration and generosity in future generations.

In November, I had the pleasure of speaking at SECF50, the 50th annual meeting of the Southeastern Council of Foundations. Using Candid data, I compared philanthropy in the South fifty years ago to philanthropy in the region today.

To put these findings together, I had the distinct, old-fashioned pleasure of turning to one of our earliest editions of the Foundation Directory (published in 1971), an actual book, to research the state of institutional philanthropy in the South at the time of SECF's founding. Information was a lot sketchier back then and we had to collect everything by hand, so our totals in 1969 are probably not as accurate as those we have today. Still, I believe it's safe to say philanthropy in the South has grown tenfold after inflation.

What the data suggests about the future of Southern philanthropy

  1. General operating support — I wouldn’t describe it as a major change yet, but our data shows Southern foundations are increasingly providing more funding for general operating support, which has grown from about 16 percent of total giving to about 19 percent in recent years.
  2. Democracy — If you aren't already familiar with it, I would encourage you to take a look at Foundation Funding for U.S. Democracy to see what kinds of work foundations are doing in this space. Foundations have a critical role to play here.
  3. Participatory grantmaking — Funders are increasingly engaging the communities they serve in the grantmaking process.
  4. Collaboration — This is where the promise of true impact lies. Use the laboratory for knowledge sharing and experimentation that SECF and similar associations provide to leverage your collective strength to make a difference.

Read the full article about philanthropy in the Southern United States by Larry McGill at Philanthropy News Digest by Candid.