Thirteen years ago, Teri Hansen's father gave his 11-year-old granddaughter an unusual birthday gift: He established a donor-advised fund in her name-a fund placed with a charitable organization from which a certain amount would be donated to charities each year. The grandfather, a retired wealth manager, told his granddaughter she would be the fund's adviser, and they would watch it grow together.

Three months later he died of a pulmonary embolism. The 11-year-old, now 24, has been recommending grants every year with her grandfather's interests as well as her own in mind.

"She thinks of her grandfather all the time," says Teri Hansen, president and CEO of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice. "It will have meaning and impact for the rest of her life."

While donor-advised funds are not new, Hansen's father's gift has the hallmarks of a new kind of philanthropy that is taking hold in America today. Donors aren't just writing checks, they're establishing funds in which future generations can participate; they're donating real estate; they're even handing over the reins of their businesses.

This new breed of donors is more hands-on and more results-oriented, even asking nonprofits for a business plan before committing funds. And their goals are loftier. While yesterday's donor wanted to feed a hungry child, today's donor aims at eradicating hunger, AIDS and malaria. This is perhaps best personified by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which, with almost $30 billion in assets even before Warren Buffett's $31 billion gift last summer, is by far the largest philanthropic foundation in America.

Today's donor has the funds to commit to serious change. More money is floating around the philanthropic world than ever before, partly because of the start of a massive transfer of wealth to boomers that will reach $41 trillion by 2052, and partly because people are making more money than ever before.

Americans donated $260 billion in 2005, a 6.1 percent rise over the previous year. With that kind of money comes change. The nonprofit world is becoming more strategic and more businesslike, turning to a new infrastructure that has developed to service it, with groups that consult with foundations and philanthropists or link volunteers and money with recipients. The financial world is not far behind, with wealth managers, attorneys and accountants eyeing a piece of the philanthropic pie.

"It's turning from a word-of-mouth cottage industry to one that is looking at philanthropy as a very large industry out there," says Lorna Lathram, director of philanthropic services with the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy. "More organizations are coming up to private and nonprofits to service the industry." Lathram's organization offers sessions on giving; couples' philanthropy is especially popular.

The New Wave

"More diverse people are getting involved in philanthropic giving," says Daria Teutonico, director of new ventures in philanthropy for the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers. "It used to be the stereotype: wealthy white males. Now there are more people of color, young people, and many more women than a decade ago."

Everyone is eyeing the baby boomers. A previous generation of philanthropists tended to be old money, the sort of donors who gave out of noblesse oblige, attended black-tie galas, endowed foundations and gave their names to museums and opera halls. The new breed made their own money, often in the stock market or IT boom of the 1990s, and want to innovative ways to cure the world's ills. And they want to stay as involved in their philanthropies as they were in their careers.

"Because so much of the wealth has been earned, people are much more engaged," says Lathram. "They approach philanthropy as their next career."

"Boomers came of age at a time of social change and upheaval," agrees Susan Price, managing director of family foundations services at the Washington, D.C.-based Council on Foundations. "A lot of them have a real sense of desire to be engaging in making the world a better place."

Like boomers, says Hansen of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, growing numbers of younger philanthropists in their 20s and 30s tend to take a more businesslike and entrepreneurial approach to philanthropy.

Funders are also taking a more businesslike approach toward pooling resources, says Scot Marken, president and CEO of the Donors Forum of South Florida, a nonprofit that provides technical assistance and community research for private and public funders. "Historically, people gave money without asking questions," he says. "People are now asking, 'Can you figure out if the money we gave you is making a measurable outcome?' There's also more partnership and collaboration among funders. They can't always go it alone; it's more effective if they collaborate and not replicate."