Issue #75 · November 20, 2025
November 20th is World Children’s Day, a day promoting the rights of children and marking the formal adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Want to find a way to honor children today? Make a donation to a non-profit that supports kids (like The Giving Square!), read about the Convention, have a conversation with kids about issues that matter to them, listen to our Kids Are Philanthropists, Too podcast hosted by kids, or read The Giving Square Selects award winning books – all chosen by kids (below).
How Did We Get Here?
2000 kids, 75 schools, 3 states, a 6th podcast season, and a 2nd annual national book award program. We did not start here.
In 2017 a group of education and non-profit professionals designed our first Kids for Kids Fund pilot. We ran the pilot knowing that there was a bigger, deeper, and more compelling way to engage kids in community. And there was! So we developed it, grew it, and kept learning along the way.
There were lots of exciting moments in the journey of The Giving Square becoming, well, something. Our first badge at a conference, the first $35 donation arriving in our mailbox, the early feature on an Urban Institute podcast. Each of these moments were signals of The Giving Square becoming real and relevant.
The Giving Square has grown because people are investing their attention and support in making it real. This month I got to meet two such people in person, at the Council of Michigan Foundations Conference – Betsy Peterson (Learning to Give) and Michael Layton (Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy) and next week I will be meeting Alison Body (University of Kent). Each of the three represents an advancement in the work (an opportunity, an article, and a book chapter) and a friendship born out of a shared purpose.
Many of you are actively helping to build this community and accelerate this work. The Giving Square would not be where it is today without you. As Helen Keller stated, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”
With Appreciation,
Amy Neugebauer, Executive Director of The Giving Square
New Resources from The Giving Square
The Giving Square has new kid-generated resources for you. This year over 1,000 children from several states reviewed 30+ children’s books focused on philanthropic themes. Here are this year’s awardees!
We also released Season 6, The Future of Good, of our kid-hosted podcast, “Kids are Philanthropists, Too!” Check it out on all major platforms.
The Giving Square in the News
- The Non-Profit Quarterly article featuring The Giving Square, “How do we break out of pity: Reframing Children as Philanthropic Citizens”.
- The latest Harvard’s Good Insights Podcast, “Transforming Youth Philanthropy”, features Executive Director Amy Neugebauer.
- Amy Neugebauer co-wrote Chapter 6 of Alison Body’s new book, “Children as Change Makers: Unleashing Children’s Real Philanthropic Power”.
- The Giving Square was referenced in “In Abundance: An Analysis of the Thriving Landscape of Collective Giving in the U.S.” Thank you Michael Layton!
- Our latest blogpost “Making Philanthropy Inclusive and Equitable Starts with Kids” was published by Giving Compass.
- The Giving Square was highlighted in “Raising Philanthropic Children: Moving Beyond Virtuous Philanthropy, Towards Transformative Giving and Empowered Citizenship”, published by Alison Body out of the University of Kent.
Our work would not be possible without the generous support of the Rothschild Foundations, The Serimus Foundation, Kettering Family Philanthropies, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Maryland Humanities, individual donors, school partners, our Team, our Partners, The Giving Square Network, and you!