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Graduate students passionate about protecting the environment will have an opportunity to make that passion their profession and become Indiana’s environmental leaders of tomorrow as the result of a $100,000 gift from the McKinney Family Foundation to the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy celebrating the school’s 30th anniversary. The gift counts toward the $2.5 billion campaign, For All: The Indiana University Bicentennial Campaign.

Emmett Carson

People from communities of color and other diverse populations have strong but often underrepresented philanthropic traditions. They are also underrepresented in the leadership and staff of nonprofit organizations and the philanthropic sector. On March 2, a “Diversity and Philanthropy Summit” will be held by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy to better understand and explore these issues and how they can be overcome. Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., CEO and president of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, visiting fellow at the school, and an international thought leader in the field of philanthropy, is the keynote speaker.

Random App of Kindness

Teens and younger children may learn to be kinder and more empathetic by playing a game on their phones, thanks to a new, interactive app, “Random App of Kindness” (RAKi), created by social science researchers.RAKi is available free of charge in the iTunes App Store and Google Play Android Market. Prior research by Sara Konrath at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, who led the team that developed the app, found that empathy in young adults has been declining by 40 percent since 1979. With many people believing smartphone use impairs empathy, she and her team decided to try to create an app that could instead make people more compassionate.

Charitable giving in the U.S. will grow by 3.6 percent in 2017 and by an additional 3.8 percent in 2018, according to The Philanthropy Outlook 2017 & 2018, a new report researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The report is presented by Marts & Lundy, a leading fundraising and philanthropy consulting firm. “Continued growth in the overall economy will lead to a rise in philanthropic giving this year and next,” said Amir Pasic, Ph.D., the Eugene R. Tempel Dean of the school. “Our research indicates that all types of donors—individuals, foundations, corporations and estates—are likely to increase their giving in each of the next two years. Nonprofit organizations and the people they serve can find encouragement in the anticipated expansion of giving.”

DREAM. DARE. DO. Women, Philanthropy, and Civil Society, a national symposium organized by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, highlights 27 bold, innovative women who will share their experiences in building civil society March 14-15 at the Chicago Marriott Downtown, 540 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago. In addition to showcasing women’s philanthropic leadership in civil society, the symposium will increase awareness broadly about women’s ongoing commitment to private action in the public square.

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.