Both higher education and philanthropy, including their purposes and roles, is being buffeted by a number of forces and undergoing scrutiny on multiple fronts, even as they seek to meet key needs in society and individual lives.

“The great social compromise that emerged after World War II affirming the role of the university –to cultivate knowledge and educate citizens– is ending,” Amir Pasic, dean of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, writes. “Philanthropy, described by Robert Payton and Michael Moody as the moral imagination of social possibilities, is called on to help guide what is next. Because philanthropy can operate apart from vested interests, it has a special role to play in helping the public imagine the ways higher learning can benefit individuals and the overall public good going forward.”

Higher education and philanthropy have been intertwined for centuries. Since 2022, the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy has convened and led the Higher Education and Philanthropy (HEP) Initiative, a collaborative community of learning and practice which connects leading researchers, funders, and practitioners from higher education and from philanthropy to work together to learn how philanthropy can better contribute to higher education and thereby support important public purposes.

“In a time of such upheaval and turbulence one of our touchstones for the HEP Initiative is how important it is to clarify what the purpose of higher education is,” Pasic said, noting that participants in the HEP Initiative’s December 2025 conference held in Washington, DC focused on three takeaways.

  • A shared vision: HEP participants are clarifying and refining specifics of the initiative’s values, purposes, and what it seeks to achieve, including exploring the mission of higher education beyond defending institutions’ interests.
  • Identifying promising areas for innovation or reform that funders or institutions may want to consider testing or adapting. HEP participants agree it’s important to imagine and facilitate alternative ways of supporting the purposes for which higher education institutions were created, as well as ways to help universities achieve new purposes going forward. This includes creating connectivity among donors and opportunities for possible funder-donor collaborations to try out innovative concepts.

Read the full article about the Higher Education and Philanthropy Initiative by Adriene Kalugyer at Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.