As we set our sights and pin our hopes on 2021, philanthropists are looking to the social sector to express their closely held values and solutions to the world’s most urgent problems.

Happy New Year! The end of the year is often when we as philanthropists choose to make some of our biggest gifts or grants.

This season sparks frequent questions around giving and receiving and life lessons to share with children and grandchildren. Many have reached out asking questions of how families can strengthen their muscles of generosity and empathy in this season of giving - especially this year. Here are a few ideas that are simple, and yet impactful.

If you are receiving this email, you were generous with your time and advice as I was starting Grant Philanthropic Advisors one year ago. Thank you for asking hard questions, offering creative strategies to help me grow and learn, and making connections on my behalf.

Many of us are beginning to think about the holidays and how we will celebrate this year. Whether we’re with family or celebrating distantly, what will we choose to focus on as we close out 2020? What traditions hold up and what new ones will be created? What stories will be shared from this year and decades past? Family values are translated implicitly and explicitly through shared traditions, rituals, and stories.

I have been hearing from many of you recently and understand that your year end philanthropy is on your mind. I thought it was important to share a critical report published this week detailing the health of South Carolina's nonprofit community. Earlier this month, the Riley Center for Livable Communities at the College of Charleston conducted a survey of hundreds of nonprofit organizations across our state in partnership with Together SC, the South Carolina Grantmakers Network, the United Way Association of South Carolina, the Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy, the Community Foundation of Greenville, and the NonProfit Alliance Greenville.

COVID-19 and our country’s renewed focus on racial inequities have upended our conventional ways of living and ways in which we care for and interact with our communities.

As we turn the corner into fall, I want to share some reflections on trends I am seeing in philanthropy right now. Over the summer months, I’ve had the opportunity to visit with philanthropists, nonprofit leaders, civic leaders, social impact investors, financial planners, and academics in the field. Two words stand out to me: adaptability and compassion.

2020 has been a year none of us anticipated. As we chart our path forward, I am hearing inspiring stories of how families, friends and colleagues are engaging in compelling conversations centered on what our world should and could look like. It is no coincidence that the nonprofit community is at the center of many of these conversations. I believe that philanthropy is a critical building block in our figurative and literal healing.