Giving Compass' Take:

• From fully embracing the energy and leadership of young people to fostering more racial inclusion, the editors at Nonprofit Quarterly look at hopes for 2019 in philanthropy.

• What can we do to help realize this vision that empowers individuals, rather than relying on outside forces to bring about change? How might we measure success?

• Here are four more resolutions that can boost your philanthropy in 2019.

Happy New Year! Last week, we highlighted seven critical trends that marked the civil sector in the US in 2018. But what will 2019 bring? Or, more importantly, what will you — and all of us — bring to it?

Often at this point, we like to take out our crystal ball and unleash a slate of predictions, as we did last year, but this year, our minds are fixed less on what others might or might not do and more on how to build upon the forward-seeking energy that emerged from the civil sector. That gets us thinking about how to build movements and nonprofit and philanthropic practice that emphasize equity and justice in the outcomes we seek. In our opinion, it’s there that social corners were turned last year, and where we must push ourselves in the year to come, building power and influence and credibility for a newly balanced, just, and sustainable future.

With Trump still in the White House and a Republican majority still in the Senate, the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives is unlikely to result in many legislative achievements, but the opportunity is there — if our sector and the communities we serve seize it — to begin to define positive policy alternatives. Some activists, for instance, have called for the creation of a House Select Committee for a Green New Deal. But why stop there? How about establishing work groups to address homelessness, gender equality, healthcare, and reparations, to name just a few challenges facing our nation?

Read the full article about a vision for nonprofits, philanthropy and civil society in 2019 at nonprofitquarterly.org.