Giving Compass' Take:

• Madeline Duva unpacks three trends related to philanthropy and technology that may unfold in 2020.

• How can funders work to advance the effective use of tech for good? 

• Read more about philanthropy and technology. 

Philanthropy isn't known for operating at startup speed. Societal, economic and environmental change can take years, and new challenges seem to pop up just when something else is resolved. That said, philanthropy is a massive trillion-dollar industry, and it's not immune to the big technology trends sweeping the nation.

With this in mind, I examined the year ahead and considered the two industries that have shaped my life and career: philanthropy and technology. When you factor in the major events that will occur in 2020 (including the upcoming census and presidential election), three key trends — and therefore, three key predictions — for tech and philanthropy emerge. These trends will continue to shape how we approach philanthropy in 2020 and for years to come.

1. More organizations will converge as one to tackle big problems.

In the past decade, grant-makers (or those who hold philanthropy's purse strings) have focused on leveraging technology to better measure, manage, understand and report on philanthropy's true impact. The industry began to analyze itself and ask difficult questions about what kind of tangible change was being brought forth per grant and whether or not funders were doing enough to support the nonprofits that enacted change each day.

The answer was both simple in theory and complex in execution: Philanthropy would have to work harder to be more transparent and collaborative in order to see true change.

2. We will see greater adoption of machine learning and artificial intelligence.

In the next 12 months, I believe we will see additional use cases for, and increased adoption of, artificial intelligence and machine learning, by both philanthropic organizations and the business world at large. For years, it seemed that machine learning and AI-based tools were touted as a panacea to solve our biggest challenges, but despite the headlines, the results never matched the hype.

3. Blockchain will become the ‘connective tissue’ for philanthropy.

Blockchain is still a nascent technology most often associated with volatile cryptocurrencies, but it promises boundless potential for safe banking worldwide. I believe this holds especially true in the philanthropic sector, where blockchain has quickly grown a reputation for its utility and effectiveness at delivering funds into the hands of change-makers.

Read the full article about philanthropy tech trends by Madeline Duva at Forbes.