Times Change, Values Remain the Same

The world of philanthropy as we have known it for more than 50 years is being dramatically reshaped while the pace of change is accelerating sharply. 

• Social venture philanthropists expect demonstrable returns on their investments.
• The public demands greater accountability and transparency.
• Advances in technology outdistance nonprofits' ability to adapt quickly.

Traditional approaches to philanthropy are not responding rapidly enough to these and other new realities.  Nonprofit organizations can no longer afford to operate as usual.

"Organized philanthropy is a field made up of wonderfully committed individuals, working hard to benefit their communities and organizations in need.  But, in a number of fundamental ways, the operational styles and underlying assumptions have changed little over time.  In a world that is changing as quickly as ours, that needs to change.  We need to seek more creative ways to assess where we are and where we could go (as opposed to where we're necessarily heading) -- and then we need to find ways to apply those creative visions." Lon M. Burns, The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at the University of Southern California

Those organizations that fail to grasp the impact of this change will also fail to gather the resources they need to effectively pursue their missions.  This is at a time when demand upon nonprofit organizations of all types is unprecedented given the enormous challenges in every arena: deteriorating global environment, endemic diseases, desperate poverty, escalating cultural conflicts, abuse of human rights and on and on.

At the same time, however, nonprofit leaders and boards of directors are grappling with pressing day-to-day issues: more complex accounting standards, increasing government regulation, demands for greater accountability and improved outcomes, changes in workplace standards, and financial pressures among others.  In faithfully discharging their responsibilities there is scant time and energy for interpreting the changing reality in which they operate.   The quandary that organizations face is how to function efficiently today while simultaneously changing attitudes and behaviors to seize the opportunities presented by changing realities.

Each of us is confronted every day with an overwhelming amount of information.  Efficiently gathering, filtering, analyzing, and interpreting this blizzard of data in order to make strategic decisions about the future requires significant time.  Trends and emerging developments such as these can go unnoticed.

• Major philanthropic investors are utilizing non-traditional methods to realize their aims.
• Shifting demographics are changing the philanthropic landscape.
• Roles are interchanging among government, nonprofits and the private sector.
• Philanthropic investors are affiliating in networks and small groups to focus their contributions.
• Growing wealth in fewer hands increasingly influences the course of philanthropy.

"Philanthropy…is operating within a dramatically shifting external environment.  Yet there are few…nonprofit leaders who regularly stand back and look at the entire industry of philanthropy and envision a more robust future."  Lucy Bernholz, Creating Philanthropic Capital Markets

Using its proprietary PRISM® model, National Advancement Counsel examines the changing realities that impact philanthropy to understand the implications for clients.  We enable clients to assess objectively where they are, envision where they could go, and strategically determine how to get there.  This is the basis for achieving transformational results.