We have found that donors and institutional funders seldom have the time to understand all that is happening around them. The routine forums and conferences for learning that philanthropists typically frequent tend to specialize in one type of institution, approach, or purpose. Given how much philanthropy has grown in recent years, there is much to learn from others whom you would not usually encounter.
So we asked Gabriel Kasper, the former program officer for philanthropy at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and one of the few people whose actual business is to look broadly at the field of philanthropy itself, to expand upon the “Seeds of Change" section of Looking Out for the Future. The full essay has been built into a broader “online learning journey" that includes many examples and links to additional information and resources.
The Web tour captures a broad sample of current experiments in U.S. philanthropy. Still, we had to be very selective about what to include—and surely missed some interesting trends, given how large and diverse philanthropy has become. Therefore, we ask your help in compiling and sharing innovations. If you know of interesting experiments that are not covered here—including innovations emerging from philanthropic efforts outside the U.S., an extremely rich arena of experimentation that was beyond the initial scope of this project—please write us at feedback@futureofphilanthropy.org.
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