Responding to the Dreams of Chinese Youth

It has now been nearly eighteen years since I taught about philanthropy to my first Chinese student, a woman who had come from Northern China to enroll in Indiana University's Master of Arts in Philanthropic Studies program. Since then, I have had so many more students I cannot count them: undergraduates, Master's students, doctoral candidates, and several visiting faculty members whose work in the United States I sponsored.

I have also been privileged to visit China four times. The first trip began in Hong Kong and included stops at several great Chinese universities in Guangzhou and Beijing, with my audiences mostly being young people, eager to learn about American philanthropy and volunteering. Several subsequently came to Indiana University to study.

I have often asked myself why there was—and still is—such interest in China, especially among its youth, in activities that are so distinctively associated with the United States. Philanthropy has a long history in China, but its context is very different, directed more toward family and leaders than to communities and citizens. American donors and volunteers are largely free to pursue whatever causes they want（within the bounds of legality）, while in China, they have to operate under the watchful eye of government and its surrogates. Philanthropy in the United States can often be annoying, disrupting a complacent status quo. China places great value on maintaining harmony among its many, far-flung peoples.

I found a clue in a famous question a pioneer of American philanthropy（and an inspiration for us at Indiana University）, Jane Addams, used to ask: “How shall we respond to the dreams of youth? ”A century ago, when she was creating Hull House, a community center for new immigrants to Chicago, she realized that engaging young people, especially from better-off families, in the hard work of building a democratic society was the best way to respond to their idealism.

I think the Chinese students who have been coming to Indiana University and other schools to study philanthropy, as well as those who go to the lectures and classes in China that I and others have given, reflect the continuing wisdom of this insight. They are part of a generation that has been marked by history. They have already known unprecedented prosperity. But they have experienced uncertainty and disaster as well. If Chinese history is any guide, they fear they might experience a lot more.

Uncertainty is never comforting, and it always has its challenges. But it is in times of challenge that good people, competent people, idealistic people, rise to the top and prove themselves. And they do so not just in government or business, but in the myriad associations-formal and informal-that former U. S. President（and Ambassador to China）George H. W. Bush once called“a thousand points of light. ”Moreover, they use not just funds from taxes or commerce, but resources of time and money voluntarily given and responsibly managed. To learn how to do that in order to build the China of their dreams（while avoiding the nightmares of its past）is why so many young Chinese-and not a few older ones—have been studying the role philanthropy plays in the United States.

This book is a product of that desire. Written by two students and faculty members I have had the great pleasure to work with, it aims to show Chinese readers what they consider valuable about the nonprofit organizations of the United States. Their intent is not to encourage imitation, but rather, to foster understanding of how philanthropy works in a typical American community and how it might work in China: to help build what one could call“philanthropy with Chinese characteristics”.

Reinvigorating the civic health of a nation; engaging the public to meet common needs; being faithful stewards of philanthropic funds—these are important tasks that are already well underway in China and await continued attention and nurture in the years ahead. They are not easy tasks, but they are crucial for China's success in the future, worthy of the talent, dedication, and drive China's young people can bring to them.

“How shall we respond to the dreams of youth? ”Jane Addams asked. By reminding them what is really worth dreaming about. This book is a valuable contribution to that goal.

Senior Counsellor to the Dean of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University

Leslie Lenkowsky