What should philanthropy look like 45 years from now?

Jara Dean-Coffey, Director, The Equitable Evaluation Initiative, Founder and Principal, Luminare Group 

“I increasingly find myself going to the origins of words, ideas and actions to better understand what twists and turns may have happened along the way — shaping out present day understandings.

“Forty-five years from now I hope philanthropy (which will never be a monolith) moves away from being a safe haven for wealth and moral logo for high-net-worth individuals and that instead it intentionally organizes in a way that reflects and invests in the best of us; that hearts, minds and efforts are dedicated to our shared liberation, justice and equity and that it holds love of humanity as its core raison d’etre.”

David Callahan, Founder and Editor, Inside Philanthropy, Author of “The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age” 

“Hopefully, the next 4 decades will see far-reaching economic reforms that reduce today’s grotesque concentration of wealth in the hands of America’s richest households. If that happens, philanthropy will be less dominated by billionaire mega-givers than it is today, which would be a very good thing.

Vu Le, Writer, NonprofitAF.com 

“Forty-five years from now, there is less philanthropy. Government is strong and representative after people woke up and realized that philanthropy cannot replace effective societal safety nets such as fair wages, universal health care and robust voting rights. Significant progress has been made on reparations to Black, Native and other marginalized communities for centuries of exploitation. Laws are in place so that rich people are paying their fair share of taxes and not hoarding their wealth through family foundations and donor-advised funds. Billionaires no longer exist, as that status is widely perceived by the general public to be unethical.

Read the full article about the future of philanthropy by Dimple Abichandani, David Callahan, Jara Dean-Coffey, Vu Le, Amoretta Morris, Dr. Carmen Rojas and Edgar Villanueva at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.