Good morning.
Three years ago, the Generosity Commission launched in response to a decline in the proportion of Americans who volunteer and give to nonprofit organizations. By some counts, fewer than half of U.S. households now give of their time or money in what some are calling a “generosity crisis.” This morning, the commission issued its report on the scope of the challenge and what to do about it.
I spoke with Blackbaud CEO Mike Gianoni, who co-chairs the commission with Jane Wales of the Aspen Institute, about why the state of generosity matters for business leaders. As a sector, philanthropy takes in more than $500 billion a year. “There are more donations coming from the uber wealthy, but not from everyday givers,” he says. “Business has a role to play (because) giving back, volunteering and donating matters to people who show up to work every day.”
That’s why one of the commission’s nine recommendations is to reinforce the leading role of businesses as conveners of employees in encouraging their volunteerism and giving. Another is to take youth seriously as givers and volunteers. I often think about that as the nature of giving among this group has changed. My Gen Z kids, for example, seem less inclined to donate through one of the country’s 1.7 million nonprofits than through a friend group or GoFundMe campaign to an individual in need. (Yes, I’ve explained the concept of charitable tax deductions.)
Rather than fret about those who don’t give, I prefer to find lessons in those who do. Gianoni, for one, focuses on creating opportunities to give and use philanthropy as a platform for leadership development. “If one of our employees lives in Texas and they’re interested in animal rights, we’ll help them find a nonprofit. We’ll help them vet that nonprofit. We’ll teach them how to be a good board member, and we’ll get them going as a board member to help them on their personal journey with whatever interest they have.”
That’s good for the employee and good for the employer to be a conduit in helping make an impact. Check out the report and here’s a blog post from Gianoni on the untapped potential of business and nonprofit collaboration.
More news below.
Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
Follow on LinkedIn
TOP NEWS
Amazon goes full RTO
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced on Monday that the company will remove some middle management roles and require employees to work in-office five days a week starting in January. Fortune's Jason Del Rey, who spoke to disgruntled employees following the announcement, describes how Jassy is hoping the move reinvigorates the company's lost corporate culture. Fortune
The coming bank boom?
Advances in technology like artificial intelligence and online banking have helped boost productivity in the banking industry—so much so that banks would need 400,000 additional bankers to generate today’s levels of revenue had productivity remained the same from 15 years ago. Investors could soon see a renaissance for bank stocks, but jobs in the industry haven't seen similar growth. Fortune
TikTok v. U.S.
Lawyers for social media site TikTok and the U.S. government argued over free speech and national security interests before judges in Washington D.C. on Monday as TikTok challenged the U.S.'s pending ban of the platform. The judges are likely to issue a decision before December; the case is expected to land before the Supreme Court ahead of the proposed ban in January. Fortune
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
‘LeBron of lacrosse’ Paul Rabil shares his leadership mindset playbook: Stay hands-on and learn competitive compromise by Massimo Marioni
Jeffries boss Richard Handler shares email sent to Lehman Brothers’ CEO on the day it collapsed—and the lessons it taught him by Orianna Rosa Royle
Wall Street could be in for a bumpy week if Fed Chair Powell doesn’t strike the right balance by Eleanor Pringle
Mark Cuban says he’s not going through a midlife crisis but would buy X and Fox News if he could
by Sydney Lake
Microsoft introduces AI agents and updates to Copilot 365 apps as the war to make AI more useful intensifies by Jeremy Khan
Chipotle has a solution to inconsistent burrito bowl sizes. It’s trying out robots to make your food instead by Sasha Rogelberg
A Tesla Cybertruck owner had to replace the tires after just 6,000 miles by Chris Morris
This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Joey Abrams.
