When Brian Grasso set a goal during his senior year of high school to raise $100,000 to fight global poverty in Jesus’ name, he had no idea how that decision would shape the trajectory of his life.
While on his first mission trip to Kenya with his family at only 12 years old, he had already felt the stirring in his heart toward global giving.
“That trip had a deep impact on me,” Brian recalls. “It was the first time I realized that there were kids my age in other parts of the world who didn’t have even their most basic needs met. That filled me with this sense of wanting to make a difference in the lives of people around the world who were experiencing poverty.”
Brian took that desire and ran with it. By the time he was 16 years old, he was leading a local initiative in his North Georgia hometown, raising funds to support those in need around the world.
“We did a ton of fundraising,” Brian says. “We sold snow cones, hosted car washes and yard sales, held poetry slams, and put on a battle of the bands, a 5K, and a chili cook-off. Together, we raised $61,000 for charities.”
That alone was an unexpected outcome for Brian and his friends, a group of high school students taking on the task with fresh passion to see lives changed. But what came next was even more unexpected. After donating their impressive earnings to seven different organizations, Brian and his friends soon learned that almost half the money went to one charity that had been mismanaging funds. “We found out that some of the money had been misappropriated, and that was hard. It was hard to accept that, after all that work, the money didn’t go where we thought it was going to go.”
At only 18 years old, Brian could’ve given up on this kind of generosity then and there. But after facing such disappointment in those early, formative years of his giving journey, he made a different decision: to let this become a valuable lesson for the next generation of givers to learn.
“Now, I can look back and see how much I learned from that experience and share it with others who can learn from me, “Brian says.
Guiding young givers
More than a decade removed from that first foray into giving, Brian runs an organization called Simple Charity, where he helps others develop philanthropic strategies to discern where to give. While the organization works with givers of all ages, they also run ministries and programs targeted toward young givers. And they partner with International Justice Mission to host student chapters on more than 35 college campuses around the country. Just last year, their student clubs raised $81,000 for charities working in developing countries.
For Brian, the work of helping the next generation of givers steward their wealth, generosity, and passions well is incredibly important. That’s why he works to guide young givers in first understanding their motivation to give and then to do the work of giving itself.
“When we get to know Jesus, we discover that Jesus really cares about people who are hurting, suffering, and vulnerable,” Brian says. “I think, for young givers, growing a relationship with Jesus is the starting point that will inevitably shape them into the kinds of people who care about and give to the things Jesus cares about too.”
Reclaiming agency
It’s a compelling starting point for a generation that seems to be more aware of the sufferings in the world than any other. Born and raised in the digital age, this next generation of givers will never know a world without immediate access to the best and worst news from around the world right there on their screens.
“We’re constantly bombarded with all the bad things happening in the world. Sometimes, it can feel like we lack the agency to do anything about it. But what I want for this next generation is the reclaiming of that agency. When they see hurt and pain in the world, I want them to know they can make a difference in Jesus’ name.”
In fact, NCF’s most recent research indicates that “agency – the faith, financial capacity, opportunity, and will, to use wealth while following Jesus and doing good work with what God has entrusted to them” is a major factor inspiring positive feelings about generosity in the next generation.
Valuable voices
But taking that agency and using it for good isn’t always easy. That’s why, as Brian knows firsthand, the voices of the generations of givers ahead of them are so valuable. “My dad and stepmom were the ones who took me on that trip to Kenya, and that was so deeply formative for me,” Brian says. “Then, adults I knew sponsored events, donated money, and showed up to help us with our efforts for charity too.” Now, Brian encourages young givers to look for the voices of older, wiser givers to pour into their own generosity journey.
“It’s so important for the next generation of givers to find voices to speak into their lives and help shape the way they approach their giving. I want young people to listen for voices who can affirm the good they see in them and their passion for justice. I want them to find advisors and mentors who recognize those passions are rooted in Christ.”
Research supports Brian’s claims that young givers are wanting that kind of guidance. Some 72 percent of young givers say they’re interested in mentoring opportunities around their finances. Finding support from older, wiser givers can provide that, and that support is something Brian thinks young givers can find through NCF. “Young adults need to grow in financial literacy,” Brian says. “There’s this whole market to educate people on things like generosity, donor-advised funds, and how they can work together. It just doesn’t seem to be reaching young givers directly. That’s a gap I think NCF can certainly help fill.”
Giving in community
From his own experience, Brian also encourages young givers to find community to learn from, walk with, and give alongside. “Social isolation, depression, anxiety, even disenfranchisement within the church are all things the next generation is facing,” Brian says, “and community can be the antidote to so much of that. That’s why my hope is that this next generation would find ways to give alongside others with the same goals and passions.”
NCF’s research showed that more than 78 percent of the next generation of givers surveyed feel connected to a faith community and that connection inspires them to give. This is exactly why Brian and his team are putting more focus on their student chapters this year. “To be in a small group with friends who are working toward a mission bigger than ourselves is a powerful thing.”
Starting now
As Brian knows from experience, it’s never too early for God to call anyone to generosity. “Generosity is a muscle the next generation can start building now. So that’s my encouragement to young adults and students: Start giving and serving like Jesus now.”
When they do, they’ll step into the call Jesus has for their lives. “It’s really motivating to see young people approach faith and generosity with fresh eyes,” Brian says. “They have this deep belief that things can be better. They can do something to make an impact, and that impact can be greater with the help and support of others – both those their age and those who have gone before them in giving.”
