Jenn Klein’s Story

Jenn Klein’s love of philanthropy began when she was just a child. Her parents modeled giving back to their community through involvement with the local school board, little league, church, and Rotary International. As a teen she was active with her church youth group and painted summer camp buildings, sang Christmas Carols to the elderly, fundraised for hunger relief, and much more.

After college, it was a natural fit to get into fundraising. With her degree in English, she went on to write grants, letters and articles, and all other areas of fundraising like events and major gifts. She aligned her personal values with the organization she worked at for education, poverty alleviation, and religion. In her career, Jenn even went to various countries in Asia on multiple trips to fundraise from supportive alumni and parents. This was the highlight of her career until something life-changing occurred.

Ten years into her career, she became a mother for the first time. It was this change that sparked her new passion for caregiving, a very important area of giving back to the world. She decided to stay home with her young children for six years, but also pursued her passion for philanthropy by creating a blog, podcast, philanthropy merchandise, nonprofit consulting, and now her first book.

Jenn titled her company “You Are A Philanthropist” because her passion is for you to realize the ability to change the world starts with you. She says, “The first step in changing the world is believing you can be successful.” With just 25% of Americans volunteering every year, she wonders what more could get done if that number increased.

What if there were a revival in philanthropy? What if her dream for a “volunteer revolution” happened so that we could solve more of the world’s problems?

Jenn is on a mission to share the benefits of generosity, not just for others but also for yourself and our world. Her new book “Giving is Selfish” is about how good (and fun) it feels to give and how the goodness you put out there boomerangs back to you.

For more information and to reach Jenn, go to her website at www.youareaphilanthropist.com. You can shop her philanthropy merchandise and listen to the You Are A Philanthropist podcast. Her book “Giving is Selfish” is now available on Amazon.