What Facebook's IPO Means for Philanthropy

Today, Facebook goes public. And the impact of its meteoric rise, and the enormous wealth it will (and already has) created, will become more apparent after the share lock-up period expires later this year, the social media juggernaut will profoundly impact the charitable landscape.

Let's just start with the first employees and founders of Facebook. At 11am today Mark Zuckerberg will become one of the richest people in the world. Zuckerberg is introverted, focused, data driven and judgmental, and is known to have a high need for control. The causes and that he ultimately embraces and the organizations that he decides to charitably support, will need to adapt to Mr. Zuckerberg's view of how the world should work, rather than how it actually does work. This could be a good thing. He has paradigm shifting resources, has already influenced (for the worse, in this author's mind) the evolutionary trajectory of mankind (more on that later), and he could do the same for philanthropy.

However what I will predict here is that those organizations that effectively curry Mr. Zuckerberg's favor will eventually need to adapt, considerably, to what and, critically, HOW things need to be accomplished. I hope that he taps an extraordinary mentor (Bill Gates is the most obvious choice), locks in on solving some major societal issue, and accepts (with considerable challenge, as is his prerogative) the advice of experts in the field.

But Zuckerberg won’t be the only Facebook employee who walks away with a fortune. Other executives, like Sheryl Sandberg, his No. 2, are expected to become a billionaires. But there are also the 1,000-odd paper millionaires the IPO is expected to mint. How those individuals think about charity, and wealth in general, will also shape the charitable landscape in America for a long, long time. We can safely assume is that a) the new paper FB Millionaires are likely young 20-somethings, b) they have lived through 9/11, Katrina, the dotcom boom and bust, two wars in Iraq, and a major economic recession, the likes of which no generation in America has faced since the 1930s. They will likely be either extremely conservative with their wealth, or confident enough to double down on high-risk start-ups of their own.

The former category will preserve lifestyle and future generations now, so charities that have the luxury to discuss bequest intentions could reap huge rewards down the road. The latter will require some more delicate handling, since outsized financial rewards would be a huge motivator for this group, they should be cultivated to positions of leadership, be listened to and involved, and ultimately should be considered the highest priority donor for your organization. Why? Well, 20 somethings with money and drive, coupled with major risk tolerance, will become the 8- and 9- figure net worth households of tomorrow. They will be $1M donors to your capital campaigns, they may start charitable foundations that give away millions a year. The long-view of the new rich, but still not done, generation is that they will be the foundation upon future Capital drives are built. The delicate part about this is that the donors do not speak this language. Well, not yet anyway.

For some additional analysis on this topic, check out Wade Rouse's article on Facebook's new wealth and the potential good it can do for the world: A VERY INTERESTING READ