In this Issue:

• • IU LFSOP Students on Faith, Philanthropy, and the Future
  • Expanded Perspective: “To Commence”
  • Meet the 2024-2025 Graduates
  • Find Your Path in Philanthropy

In this article, students Br. James Jensen, Dennis Kilama, and Aimee Grace Tapeceria from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy (IU LFSOP) share their reflections on the intersections of faith, philanthropy, and the future, offering a glimpse into the journeys and questions driving the field.

Br. James Jensen is earning a Graduate Certificate in Philanthropic Studies from the IU LFSOP. He is a Benedictine monk at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana.  Br. James primarily works in donor relations and community outreach at Saint Meinrad. 

My studies in the LFSOP have given me a bigger context for the role of nonprofit organizations. Further, my studies have given me practical tools to use as I connect with people in my work in Donor Relations at Saint Meinrad Archabbey.  

Through this work, I have the opportunity to get to know many different people that help support Saint Meinrad’s mission. I get to share my passion for my Catholic faith and Saint Meinrad with others. It is a privileged space to walk with someone as they tell you parts of their journey with God. This authentic encounter with another person is where my observation about pressing questions for faith and giving begins. I wonder how we, as faith leaders, can recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in the relationships we foster. Do we intentionally seek the promptings of the Holy Spirit with others? As I journey with people, I notice that it can be difficult for them to see some movements of the Holy Spirit on their own. Therefore, exploring possible “God moments” with people have helped shape our philanthropic journey in exciting ways.

Dennis Kilama is a Ph.D. Candidate at the IU LFSOP and the William and Edie Enright fellow at the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving. He previously worked with various nonprofit organizations in Africa. His research interest focuses on the intersection of faith-based organizations, African philanthropy, and financial sustainability.

For the past three years, my studies in philanthropy have centered on three things. First, I have focused on contemporary issues in giving such as shifts in donors’ behavior, power dynamics in philanthropic relationships, and the role of foundations and non-profit organizations today. Second, is the question of how contextual realities around giving, such as historical legacies, political environments, and socio-economic conditions, shape why and how people give. Third, it is important to mention that the learning has been in a community of esteemed scholars that has provided great mentorship and guidance in my own quest as an emerging scholar in philanthropic studies.

Previously, I worked with faith-based organizations and my work often centered at the intersection of faith-based organizations and philanthropy in Africa. Hence, I pursued this program. First, I was interested in the question of faith and giving in the traditional African context. The program has allowed me to explore the communal and often informal structures of generosity that come before and yet also coexist with formal philanthropic practices. Second, I come with a deep interest in giving from a moral and ethical perspective, and the doctoral program has enabled me to examine how religious and cultural values shape motivations in giving. Finally, I had questions on how giving could be a means of empowering the marginalized. This aligned with my commitment to social justice and how philanthropy can be a tool for the transformation of Africa.

The pressing questions I see for the future revolve around three themes. First, given that by 2060, 40% of Christians are expected to live in sub-Saharan Africa, and 60% of Muslims in the Asia Pacific region,[1] how will these demographic shifts compare with the share of giving from the Global South? Second, given that 42% of the world’s youth will be in Africa and that 75% of the population in Africa will be below 35 years,[2] how will this shift shape the landscape of faith and giving in a digital era in traditional Africa? Finally, how will indigenous traditional values (such as Ubuntu) reshape the global models and conversations on the theology of generosity?

References

Aimee Grace Tapeceria is graduating with a Master of Arts from the IU LFSOP.

My mom calls me a jack-of-all-trades and master of none because I have a bachelor’s degree in accounting, master’s degree in education, and another master’s in social entrepreneurship. My professional life has centered on writing, teaching, marketing, and fundraising. I believe that all these experiences and talents were God given with a special purpose in mind for the work that I would be led to do.  

In February 2018 I took on a temporary position at Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and just few weeks later, due to staffing changes, I was asked to apply for the new role in the Public Relations and Marketing Office, which was to include fundraising.  

I knew that trying to maintain the communications role would require me to put on my Jack-of-All-Trades hat because I would have to write stories, take pictures, design posters, edit videos, and much more. These tasks I was confident I could fulfill but fundraising was not something that I had done previously. 

While I was working with ADRA, marketing and fundraising plans were based on prayer and instinct. The first week I arrived at the LFSOP, I was handed a binder from the Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising (ECRF) course through Lake Institute. Each page that I read had me nodding my head in agreement, for I was seeing fundraising theories on paper, theories that I had previously implemented on instinct. 

I came to IU fully prepared to dissect the lessons to be able to squeeze out the spiritual aspect of things, but as it turns out, I just needed to contextualize and absorb the information that would lead me to a better understanding of how to use philanthropy to help and minister to people. How I will use this philanthropic knowledge in the future? I do not know but am prepared for whatever God has in store.