Mr Greg Ratliff, Senior Vice President of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, kick-started the discussion by defining the two types of next-generation philanthropists – wealth inheritors and wealth creators – and explained how their motivations and resources to give vary.  While wealth inheritors come from a lineage of giving traditions, wealth creators don’t necessarily have a specific philanthropic agenda or approach.

The panellists noted that while next-gen givers are driven by their family legacy, they also reflected on how this generation is different from their predecessors and pushes towards using measurable impact and building trusting relationships with grantees to guide their philanthropy.

Ms Dee Poon, President, Brands and Retailing of Tessellation Group, also shared that these givers are much more willing to give their time, talent, ties, and not just their treasure as compared to their predecessors. Mr Ratliff explained how next-gen givers use a service orientation approach to reach the maximum people in the most effective way (e.g., using impact investing) and are willing to use a systemic approach to go to the root cause. They see capital as an investment tool that can create sustainable enterprises to solve social issues long term.

Ms Poon also shared a grounding perspective that most wealthy people don’t engage in philanthropy and called to action that we must think of ways to involve them. Mrs Andine Sutarjadi, Director of 21/64, explained that next-gen givers are paralysed by 3Ps – predecessors, privilege, and possibilities – and enabling them to overcome all three has proven effective in getting more of them to give.

Mr Kithmina Hewage, Senior Advisor of the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society, also asked how grantees can then best engage with next-gen givers. Mrs Sutarjadi noted that grantees must understand the motivations of these next-gen givers, build relationships as partners, and display incremental changes in their impact. Ms Poon also reflected that grantees could urge their potential donors to see the problem first-hand in order to truly drive motivation.

All the panellists also agreed that incentives such as tax benefits play a key role in advancing giving, a phenomenon widespread in the West.