Giving Compass' Take:

• This story from Philanthropy in Focus looks at recent research on the infrastructure of philanthropy in Europe.

• The story highlights the sector's wish to have "one voice." In Europe, this voice is often pointed towards the EU. What might this "one voice" look like in other regions?

• To learn more about the relationship between philanthropy and the EU, click here.

This is an interview with Michael Alberg-Seberich and Filiz Bikmen on Beyond Philanthropy’s new report on European philanthropy infrastructure. The research, More than the Sum of its Parts: Insights on the Future of Philanthropy and Social Investment infrastructure in Europe, is the first comprehensive look at European philanthropy infrastructure.

How does adopting a more “outward engagement” attitude in philanthropy infrastructure relate to the wider philanthropy field and social sector? Why is it important that philanthropy associations interact with those outside their direct membership or their constituencies?

To our surprise, this question came up in the interviews repeatedly. The assumption seems to be that philanthropy infrastructure mainly provides services to its members. In fact, infrastructure organizations often start out with providing legal services to its members or capacity building for the members. But the moment you bring together donors that are interested in certain causes, like education, health or the environment you actively start to turn to outward engagement.

There is a growing expectation, at least in Europe, that philanthropy infrastructure also represents the interests of foundations and philanthropy overall. In the EPSII study, we described this as the wish of the stakeholder interviewed to move from analysis to action. Advocacy, lobbying and communicating the sector to external parties (law and policy makers, media, thought leaders, etc.) was by far the most frequently discussed topic in this study. The strongest expression of this was the repeated wish to have “one voice” for the sector ... towards the wider public. This shows that “outward engagement” of philanthropy infrastructure is crucial to represent the sector and create new collaborations across the sector. All this should enhance the impact for philanthropy and social investing.

Read the full article about philanthropy infrastructure at Philanthropy In Focus.