Young Entrepreneurs Say They Give

More than half of business entrepreneurs under age 40 say they have made a “significant” donation of time or money to charity, according to a new survey of 200 people who were instrumental in founding a company.

“We tend to make a lot of the fact that these people are busy entrepreneurs, and they’ll wait until they’re much older to get involved, but clearly they are not waiting until they’re Andrew Carnegie’s age,” said Albert Ruesga, director of New Ventures in Philanthropy. The program, run by the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, a Washington organization, commissioned the research.

Survey respondents were members of the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization — owners, founders, and shareholders in companies with annual sales of $1-million or more. The survey found that:

More than a quarter of the entrepreneurs said they had not been asked to serve on a charity board or to make a “major financial gift.”

Forty-four per cent agreed with the statement that charities “address issues and causes I care about.” Four per cent said that charities “are inefficient and not very influential.”

The forum expects to publish the survey results in coming months. For more information, contact Susanne Ross, Project Coordinator, Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 300, Washington 20036; (202) 467-0293; rosss@cof.org.