Race. The economy. Capitalism. Generational change.
Those are among the big issues that philanthropy will grapple with in the year — and decade — ahead, as you’ll read more about digging into our January issue.
This is our fourth time looking ahead to what’s next for philanthropy, and reflecting back on how our forecasts have stood the test of time tells us a lot about the nonprofit world. It’s also an important check in an era when fake news is too often mistaken for deeply reported journalism like you find in the Chronicle.
To be sure, while change is happening in philanthropy, it’s not as fast as anyone expected. We declared the 1990s would be a decade of altruism, and indeed the tech boom of the 1990s led to the creation of the biggest philanthropy in America, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
We also predicted that environmental causes would be key beneficiaries of all that largess. Yet in this issue, you’ll see an opinion piece from Larry Kramer (Page 36), head of the Hewlett Foundation, bluntly attacking philanthropy for doing too little to tackle climate change and putting all the missions that foundations care about at risk.
As 2000 opened, we focused on growing concerns about scandals and an erosion of trust — issues that have again become so serious they made our 2020 list. And in 2010, we suggested that tax-exempt groups might not be as dominant a force for people who want to do good — and indeed the rising number of megadonors starting limited-liability companies to house their social-change work, in part so they can give to social enterprises and political groups, is a sign that this change is already in progress.
We also predicted that Hispanics would become a dominant force in philanthropy by the time we rang in 2020, but while they have achieved much and gained more clout, there’s still much more room to grow. After all, as we pointed out in our look at the leaders of the 100 biggest charities last year, just six are Hispanic.
We look forward to letting you know in 2030 whether our predictions held up, but we’re more eager to chart your progress in tackling the biggest issues of the day and doing all we can to provide you the news, insights, and tools that can help you advance your social missions. Drop me a line to let me know how my colleagues and I can support your vital work throughout 2020.
— Stacy Palmer, Editor