LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Philanthropy is defined as “a desire to help mankind, especially as shown by gifts to charitable or humanitarian institutions,” according to the New World Dictionary. But often, the act of philanthropy is misunderstood as being something only practiced by the wealthy.

That myth is being dispelled in part by the Kentucky Philanthropy Initiative (KPI). The nonprofit was established in 2008 to promote and support philanthropy in the state, to ultimately address challenges faced by its citizens.

The third annual Kentucky Philanthropy Summit was recently in Louisville to address many of these challenges. Often it is the rural areas of the state that seem to need the most help. This year’s event featured speakers as well as attendees who address that issue on a daily basis.

Katharine Pearson Criss, vice president of the Center for Rural Strategies located in Whitesburg, Ky., served as a speaker in one of the breakout sessions at the summit. She thinks there is a misconception of what rural America is really like: one being of poverty and ignorance, and the other of being an ideal place, wholesome like apple pie, neither of which is true.

“Somewhere in between and according to the 2010 census, we have a whole bunch of diverse populations in rural communities around this country,” said Pearson Criss. “We know that rural is changing, demographically. We know, also, that at one point 80 percent of the land in this country was rural and 20 percent of the population lived there, and in the last 10 years there seems to be a slight change.”

She added something else we know about rural communities is many young people are leaving and child poverty is at an astounding rate.

Pearson Criss noted people who live in rural areas have a sense for what the community is about. “Even if we have misconceptions of a lot of different places, if you live in a rural community, you kind of know where you are. You have a sense of that place,” she said.

Perception may also play a role in knowing how much giving exists in a community, or just what type of person is considered a philanthropist. It is not just for the rich of the world.

Pearson Criss has spent a lot of time talking about everyone being able to be a donor and everybody being able to be a philanthropist, especially in Kentucky where initiatives are addressing the issue. In the state’s last legislative session, the “Endow Kentucky” bill was passed, that provides a tax credit for new contributions to endowed community funds.

At last year’s summit, the KPI Transfer of Wealth Kentucky study was released. The report broke down philanthropic opportunities on a county-by-county basis and offered a few surprises concerning just how much wealth is present in the state and how much opportunity exists in all 120 counties.

The report noted over the next 20 years, the transfer of wealth (TOW) opportunity in Kentucky is estimated to be almost $173 billion, and in 50 years that number could swell to more than $700 billion. The study also noted if just 5 percent of the 10-year TOW opportunity were to be captured by local nonprofits, such as community foundations, those organizations would realize almost $3.6 billion.

Pearson Criss said while there are the Bill Gates-types in the world who are extremely wealthy and can contribute much money toward various causes, smaller amounts such as $10, $25 and $100 will also add up after a while and are just as important.

“Every penny counts, and it’s not so much the size of the gift, it’s the fact that when you give, you feel invested and we all need to be a part of that. We all need to feel a part of our communities and create a balance between those who are able to make very large gifts and those who can make more modest gifts. They are all valued,” she said.

“Giving back to the community has always been a part of our rural culture, so now we’re just trying to formalize it in a way that means it can last and be there for our children and grandchildren.”

Les Fugate, executive vice president of the Center for Rural Development in Somerset, Ky., attended the summit. His organization works to improve the quality of life in southeastern Kentucky through many initiatives, including philanthropy.

Fugate said if the region is going to change for the better it has to come from those who live there. There is a larger amount of wealth present in the area than realized, but with many young people moving away, when  their parents pass away a large amount of transferable wealth is leaving, as well.

“What we are doing is trying to capture just a small portion of that to then go back and reinvest into our communities,” he said.

Fugate thinks the impact philanthropy makes on a smaller communities is much more significant than perhaps in metropolitan areas – first, because it is usually a majority of people in rural areas that rally around a cause, but more importantly, it is easier to see a tangible result in smaller areas.

“A million dollars, for instance, in a small community, goes a really long way. A million dollars in an urban community may not go that far,” he said. “In addition, in rural areas, we’re not as focused on some of the same issues of urban areas, so the investments we’re making are very different investments.”

Fugate noted investments in rural communities don’t mean handouts, and creating a better community is the goal. “At the end of the day, we want a growing community and someplace our children can come back home to; where there are going to be jobs and there are going to be opportunities.”

For more information about KPI go to www.kyphilanthropy.com and to learn more about the Center for Rural Strategies, go to www.ruralstrategies.org

For more about the Center for Rural Development, visit http://centertech.com