Millennials: the next civic generation

How are young Americans getting involved in their communities? How might they get more involved in the future? The research agency Achieve along with the Case Foundation and several other research partners have released the 2013 Millennial Impact Report with useful insights. This fourth annual study surveyed 2,665 young Americans who were born between 1979 and 1994. Most were college graduates and 65 percent were employed fulltime.

In 2012, according to the report, 73 percent of Millennials volunteered for a nonprofit organization. Almost four out of five young volunteers said that did so because of their passion for the cause. More than half were motivated by their interest in meeting likeminded volunteers. And nearly 83 percent of young Americans donated money to a nonprofit last year.

Young people value causes over specific organizations. They want to be involved in eradicating global poverty, combating human trafficking, or cleaning up a local watershed. It’s not just about joining the Kiwanis Club or the Elks Lodge. While previous generations joined clubs and organizations first, and only then discovered ways to serve, today’s young Americans see a problem first and then look for a way to solve it.

Read more at Philanthropy Daily here. 

Poverty and philanthropy in the suburbs

When we think of poverty, we might think of blighted inner cities or depressed rural towns. But don’t forget poverty in the suburbs, says a new book from the Brookings Institution by Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube, Confronting Suburban Poverty in America.

Since the 1980s, poverty has been growing in the suburbs at a faster rate than in the cities or rural areas. This increase accelerated in the 2000s. Today there are more poor Americans living in the suburbs than in the cities, and 55 percent of poor people (15.3 million) in metropolitan areas live in suburbs. While the poor population in Seattle and other Puget Sound cities grew by 26 percent from 2000-10, the poor population in the nearby suburbs (where I live) grew by 74 percent. In 2010, 68 percent of poor residents in the Seattle metropolitan area were suburban, compared to 61 percent just a decade earlier.

Most of the poor in sixty metropolitan regions across the country live in the suburbs. In sixteen metropolitan regions (such as Atlanta, Boise, Cape Coral, Colorado Springs, Columbus [OH], Grand Rapids, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City), the numbers of suburban poor more than doubled between 2000 and 2010.

There are various reasons for the increase of suburban poverty in the 2000s: the increase of overall poverty because of the Great Recession, the aging of suburban housing stock, the migration of the upper and middle classes from older suburbs to newer suburbs or into the cities, the location of immigrant populations in lower-cost suburban areas.

Read more at Philanthropy Daily here. 

Interview with George Scott, author of "Governors of Washington"

George Scott, former State Senator and political historian, has written biographies of all former Washington State governor in a single volume, "Governors of Washington." You can watch my interview with Dr. Scott for the Center for Civic Leadership's Gorton Lecture Series. It aired on the Seattle Channel.

Crowdfunding for local charities

Crowdfunding for local charities
Philanthropy Daily
by Hans Zeiger 

One day a couple weeks ago, my Twitter feed was lit up with comments about “GiveBig.” Various local nonprofits were tweeting requests to “GiveBig” that day to support their work. By going to the Seattle Foundation’s website, I learned that I could give to any of 1,300 local groups and that part of my donation would be matched by dollars from a $1 million “stretch” fund. I made a small donation to a scholarship foundation in my hometown. From midnight to midnight on May 15, 54,500 people Gave Big, with donations totaling $11.1 million. Read more at Philanthropy Daily here.

Local philanthropy: Humboldt County, California-style

“[I]f you do not build on what you have as a community, outside experts and outside resources are unlikely to make any practical difference. When the bedrock experience, cultural orientation, and skills needed to confront a barrier emerges from an engaged community, the odds of philanthropic support making a dynamic difference increase dramatically.”

So says a recent report from the Kettering Foundation entitled “Philanthropy and the Regeneration of Community Democracy.” Peter Pennekamp, who for 19 years led the Humboldt Area Foundation in northern California and served for a time as vice president of National Public Radio, is the author of the report along with philanthropic consultant Anne Focke. Pennekamp and Focke take on the tendency of foundations to come into communities and set up programs as if the community was a kind of project. In contrast, they argue that philanthropic investment in communities is best done in deference to local wisdom, institutions, and people. Foundations should get involved in communities, rather than trying to get communities involved in foundation initiatives.

Read more at Philanthropy Daily here. 

Transportation reforms should be legislative priority

Read my op-ed in the News Tribune about how we need to reform transportation projects in Washington State.

Bring democracy closer to the people

 Rep. Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish) and I co-authored a piece on Crosscut about why we should split State House of Representatives districts in half. It's the best way to preserve a part-time citizen legislature, reduce campaign costs, and more.