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Eight emerging researchers nationwide who are working to expand knowledge on generosity over the course of a lifetime have received grants from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Generously funded by the John Templeton Foundation, the grant program will identify and capture bold ideas and innovations in the social sciences and the arts and humanities that shed light on what it means to live generously and transmit generosity to others.

Dr. Tyrone Freeman

Groundbreaking research by Tyrone McKinley Freeman, Ph.D., on the philanthropy of Madam C.J. Walker, a black entrepreneur who became America’s first self-made woman millionaire, has been honored with a top national award for outstanding scholarship. Freeman is assistant professor of philanthropic studies and director of undergraduate programs at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Indianapolis nonprofit Flanner House will receive $10,000 for its Farming, Education, Employment, Distribution (F.E.E.D.) program, which will create an urban garden and farming program that will provide local residents who live in Indianapolis' largest food desert with access to healthy foods, education and training in agriculture and food preparation and delivery and employment placement support. The grant is being made by the Learning by Giving class at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

John A. List

Economist John A. List has been named the Visiting Robert F. Hartsook Chair in Fundraising at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. A world leader in experimental economics, List will provide additional expertise that will expand the school’s ability to connect its activities with other groups of scholars and practitioners such as the Science of Philanthropy Initiative. List will serve as the visiting chair for three academic years, through June 2019.

The value of charitable gifts of $1 million or more across the United States, the United Kingdom and the Middle East (GCC) tripled in 2015. At least 2,197 gifts of $1 million or more, totaling $56 billion were made last year, marking a significant increase in both the number and total value of gifts compared to the previous year, according to the Million Dollar Donors Report 2016, produced by Coutts + Co. in association with the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The Million Dollar Donors Report analyzes the number, size and recipients of gifts of $1 million or more given by individuals, foundations and corporations in the U.S., U.K. and the Middle East (Gulf Cooperation Council countries). In 2016 for the first time it also includes a discussion and case studies that illustrate philanthropy across Continental Europe.

Young women donors today are holding their own when it comes to charitable giving, bucking the trend of Millennials and Gen Xers being less generous than their predecessors, according to the newest report in the Women Give series released today by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI) at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Findings from the study, which is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have implications for donors and fundraisers alike.

Richard Trollinger has been named the second annual recipient of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Distinguished Alumni Award. The vice president for college relations at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, Trollinger is one of the nation's top experts in educational fundraising.

Most wealthy individuals believe charitable giving (45 percent) and volunteering (31 percent) have the greatest potential for positive impact on society –far more so than voting for (13 percent) or contributing to (1 percent) a political candidate who shares their ideals on topics important to them – according to the 2016 U.S. Trust® Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy.

Pentera, Inc., and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy released a new research whitepaper on planned giving, “The 2016 Planned Giving Study: Building Lasting Legacies: New Insights from Data on Planned Gifts.” It investigates the characteristics of planned gifts and the likelihood of donors making such gifts to nonprofit organizations at various points over the course of a lifetime.

Three out of four households in Puerto Rico (74.9 percent) report making charitable donations in 2014, a high rate of giving, especially compared to similar data in the U.S. which shows 55.8 percent of mainland U.S. households giving to charity in 2013. This finding comes from the first study of its kind to examine charitable giving patterns, priorities, and attitudes of Puerto Rican households. Giving in Puerto Rico is the result of a collaboration among Flamboyan Foundation (Flamboyan), the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and Kinesis Foundation.