How Leading Philanthropists Change

Ian Millman
2 min readJul 7, 2021

Industries need to continue to evolve in order to progress and remain in the market. Philanthropy is no different. In order to be successful, philanthropists should constantly re-evaluate their goals and desires for their organization. As the world continues to uncover more problems with the environment, society, financial situations, and more, philanthropists need to adapt to serve the needs of the deserving. Below we will take a look at some of the top ways leading philanthropists to change in an ever-changing and ever-evolving world.

  1. They continue to innovate

Undoubtedly, philanthropists desire to fund leaders, programs, and ideas that are innovative. Unfortunately, this pushes the responsibility of innovation onto other people, especially those who are grantees. Innovation cannot just stop at the grantees; philanthropists must also continue to enforce creativity within themselves. We saw one of the best examples of recent innovation from philanthropists in California as regional nonprofits joined forces with private philanthropists to financially support immigrants during the height of Covid19.

2. They understand why they exist and are confident in their goal.

Philanthropy only works well when a leader knows exactly what they are striving for. For example, the Elton John AIDs Foundation is exceptionally confident in the belief that a cure for AIDs exists and can lead to the eradication of the disease. They believed in themselves and stuck with their goal, and as a result, the foundation has raised more than $450 million over the past 25 years in the fight against HIV and AIDs. The foundation also got involved with the battle against covid, creating a COVID19 emergency fund to help protect those who are more susceptible to the effects of Coronavirus. When trying to understand your purpose, always ask yourself the question of “why.” When you know the reason behind doing what you are doing, you will inspire others to join you in your journey.

3. They possess the agility

When a leader is agile, they can adequately determine what might happen next and the best way to respond to it. Being agile means being proactive; leaders have to constantly be on the hunt for opportunities, but threats as well. Agility does not equate to always knowing the answer and details for everything, but you should always be nimble enough to ensure you have the proper resources for what is to come. Philanthropists should be able to adapt to situations that are evolving quickly and be in a position to provide correct funding.

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Ian Millman

Ian Millman is an MLB talent scout, entrepreneur, and philanthropist in the Dix Hills area of New York. Read more @ IanMillman.org