This report is the detailed synthesis of insights gained from multiple discussions around the world. It is avaibale on a dedicated website for ease of access. It brings together views on how philanthropy is expected to change in the next decade from a wide range of experts from 9 workshops on 4 continents undertaken over the past 12 months in Mumbai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Oxford, London, Washington DC, Quito and Dubai.

This decade sees philanthropy at a pivotal point. The evolving geopolitical landscape, the rapid creation of new wealth and a greater awareness of how philanthropy can create social change have already led to exciting innovation and new thinking. This is influencing approaches to giving and social responsibility across the world.

During our conversations three interconnected drivers of change for the next decade were identified. These are Power, Knowledge and, inherent to both of these, Trust. They will shape the evolution of philanthropy over the next decade. The report examines 52 sub-insights and explores regional differences in perspective.

Some key insights include:

Philanthropic Oligarchy: As government funding in civil society declines, especially in international aid, a few philanthropic organisations begin to dominate. There is push back from some over their legitimacy and transparency.

Data Driven Philanthropy: Public and institutional expectations push philanthropic organisations to use data to measure performance and impact. Greater transparency enables focus on making the most difference but risks a bias toward quantifiable quick wins.

Self-Directed Millennials: Millennials are more receptive to cause marketing than previous generations. As the largest future giving demographic they believe in more self-directed donations and so drive further growth in micro-funding.

Increasing State Influence: As the impact and expectations of philanthropy grows, more states seek to be involved in curating areas of focus. Regulation increasingly steers where and how funds can be directed.

Big Bets: The availability of higher risk capital and a willingness to tackle more challenging issues enables bigger, bolder, and often longer-term philanthropic bets to be made on critical interventions.

Broader Collaboration: Donors increasingly have an expanded view of which groups can successfully develop solutions for society’s challenges. Businesses, universities and religious institutions work alongside NGOs and social enterprises.

This report is written for anyone with an interest in philanthropy and how to make it more effective with higher impact in the future. It will be useful to individuals, charities and other NGO’s, businesses and governments as well as advisors to each of these audiences. As Badr Jafar, our Global Patron, states in his foreword “No one can predict the future, yet we can strive to become better informed about what is ahead and use that information to be better change makers, enablers and impact-driven almsgivers.”

The Future of Philanthropy Programme was organised in partnership with a number of leading organisations around the world. We would like to acknowledge and thank them for their collaboration and support. In particular we would like to thank Badr Jafar for his continued support of the initiative and all of our Regional Hosts – Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, Feedback Labs, Global Giving, Asobanca, Quito Consejo Metropolitano de Responsabilidad Social, Ankur Capital, Roads Ahead Consulting, The Lien Centre for Social Innovation at Singapore Management University, Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, Alpha Catalyst Consulting, The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Said Business School, Oxford, The Fore, New Philanthropy Capital and the British Asian Trust.

We would like to thank Professor Cathy Pharoah, Visiting Professor of Charity Funding and Co-Director of the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy at Cass Business School for writing the initial perspective on the topic. Finally, we would also like to thank The Pearl Initiative and Philanthropy Age in supporting the production and sharing of this report

This global foresight programme was made possible by the generosity of the above and that of the participants who chose to join the workshops. We thank them, most sincerely.

As with all Future Agenda open foresight projects the output is shared under Creative Commons (Non Commercial) and so we trust that you may find it useful. The PDF on slideshare can be freely downloaded and shared.

If you would like a quick and high-quality print out of the report, the easiest way will be to order a digital hardcopy via Amazon (for which they unfortunately charge a fee).

Links for Amazon access are

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1987692608 in the UK

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1987692608 in the US

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1987692608 in Canada

https://www.amazon.de/dp/1987692608 in Germany

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/1987692608 in France

https://www.amazon.in/dp/1987692608 in India

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1987692608 in Australia

It will be on other Amazon national platforms shortly

This is the Kindle version https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CC7YCQS