The fields of health and health philanthropy have seen dramatic changes in recent years. Policy transformations and demographic shifts are reshaping the U.S. health care system, resulting in vastly greater demands on service providers and nonprofit organizations working to improve the health of Americans.

Visit Giving Compass for more articles about health

Philanthropy has long had a vital role to play in supporting these organizations, but the new demands being placed on the health system require a more diverse range of approaches to serve additional people and to achieve greater impact. In recent years, a new set of actors has entered the field of health philanthropy. These actors are responding to the changing landscape and have priorities and approaches that are uniquely suited to address the greater needs brought upon by shifts in policy and demography. These new actors simultaneously magnify and challenge the definition of impact for all health philanthropists.

Grantmakers In Health (GIH) and Arabella Advisors have partnered to explore the role that these new actors are playing in the field of health philanthropy, drawing from GIH’s expertise as a leader in health philanthropy and on Arabella’s experience in helping funders identify, implement, and evaluate philanthropic and impact investment strategies. Arabella conducted research into the state of new actors in the field by interviewing foundation leaders, health philanthropy experts, philanthropic advisors, and practitioners who are pioneering new approaches to investing in the health sector.

For the purposes of this inquiry, health philanthropy is divided into two types of funders: traditional health funders and non-traditional actors. This report examines the unique attributes of the non-traditional actors and demonstrates how the approaches and priorities that they bring to the field are uniquely suited to address the needs currently facing health philanthropy. On their own, non-traditional actors can have a significant impact. But by learning from their methods, and by exploring opportunities for closer partnership and collaboration, traditional health funders can magnify their impact as well.

Read the source article at arabellaadvisors.com

Read more about impact driven philanthropy at GivingCompass.org