Priorities for Foundations Moving Forward
Foundations increasingly take on larger roles in finding solutions to social matters. Not only in Europe but especially in Asia and America as well. The white paper "Funding in the 21st Century. Trends and Priorities in the Foundation Sector" outlines five priority areas for the future of foundations.
The nature of foundations is changing - due to new societal challenges, new possibilities for funding, and increasing philanthropic commitment worldwide. Foundations no longer restrict themselves to engaging only with civil society. They are taking on increasingly larger roles in finding solutions to social matters and are becoming more heavily involved creatively and strategically. Business principles are gaining in importance for the work of a foundation.
How can foundations live up to this responsibility? The white paper "Funding in the 21st Century. Trends and Priorities in the Foundation Sector" outlines five priorities that will be of importance for the work of foundations in the 21st century:
- Implementing innovative, entrepreneurial forms of foundation work, such as impact investing or venture philanthropy.
- Introducing evidence-based monitoring of results and effects.
- The importance of investing in strengthened and innovative capacity-building for beneficiaries.
- Finding ways of effectively organizing cooperation with state stakeholders.
- Promoting cooperation between foundations to utilize synergy effects.
This collection of proposals was created within the scope of Dasra Philanthropy Week in Mumbai early this year, the largest forum for philanthropy in India, which was attended by 40 representatives from foundations ranging from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the Indian Tata Trust. Together with their Indian partner, Dasra, the Robert Bosch Stiftung hosted an international dialog for foundations.
