‘Philanthropy’ is a term that was once associated with ultra-wealthy retirees who signed big cheques to support charitable causes they are passionate about. But times have changed. Today, the face of philanthropy is a much younger one – and one with a much wider scope to cover today’s emerging challenges.

While philanthropy still represents a love of humanity, it is no longer just about handing over money. Increasingly, it is also about the planned and structured giving of time, goods and services, influence and voice to improve the wellbeing of our communities.

And if the success of the recent NEXUS Australia Youth Summit is anything to go by, the next generation has its sights firmly set on making a big difference – harnessing and growing philanthropy for the greater good. NEXUS is an international network of more than 3500 young philanthropists, social entrepreneurs and influencers across 70 countries working to increase and improve philanthropy and social investing in order to bring about positive social change in the world.

One of the keynote speakers at the NEXUS Youth Summit was Sara El-Amine, the Director of Advocacy at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). While methods and demographics of those involved in philanthropy may have changed over time, El-Amine’s message is that philanthropy is most effective when its role is as facilitator, not instigator

Along with the growing number of younger philanthropists is the rise of corporate philanthropy. Over the past decade there have been significant changes in the way businesses have stepped up to accept their social responsibility and as it turns out, it is proving not only beneficial to social causes, but also the organizations themselves.

At the end of the day, possibly the biggest take-away is that anyone – no matter what their age, background or status – can be a philanthropist and no contribution is too small

Read the full article about the next generation creating social change for philanthropy at The Guardian.