Tomorrow’s philanthropists will have to find new ways of working that fit the emerging landscape of public problem-solving, according to a new report.

What’s Next for Philanthropy: Acting Bigger and Adapting Better in a Networked World represents more than a decade of work by the Monitor Institute in exploring the evolving future of philanthropy and updates its 2005 report, Looking Out for the Future.

The report highlights the changing context in which philanthropists now operate, and identifies 10 emerging next practices that can help funders of all sorts to increase their impact over the coming decade. It also includes an ‘innovation toolkit’ to helps philanthropists and funders to apply the ideas of the report to their own philanthropic efforts or organisations.

Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the report finds that an intimidating range of forces – globalisation, shifting sectoral roles, economic crisis, and ubiquitous connective technologies, to name just a few – are changing both what philanthropy is called upon to do and how donors and foundations will accomplish their work in the future.

While it accepts that philanthropy has changed, it argues that: “The new context requires that funders adjust to the ways in which their actions are connected to others’ actions, in a dynamic interplay with external events, in order to have a greater impact, faster.

“Where the cutting edge of philanthropic innovation over the last decade was mostly about improving organisational effectiveness, efficiency, and responsiveness, we believe that the next practices of the coming 10 years will have to build on those efforts to include an additional focus on coordination and adaptation. The most innovative funders in the future will do more than operate as effective, independent institutions,” it says.

Each of the 10 ‘next practices’ is illustrated with an example of a foundation or foundations. The steps are: Understand the context; Pick the right tool(s) for the job; Align independent action; Activate networks; Leverage others’ resources; Know what works (and what doesn’t); Keep pace with change; Open up to new inputs; Share by default; and Take smart risks.

While the examples given are US-based foundations, many operate on the global stage and the lessons apply to philanthropy worldwide, Monitor believes. “While the report itself is US-centric, since most of the Institute's work in this space thus far has been in the United States (although we're increasingly looking at and working with funders from around the globe), we believe that the principles and ideas discussed in the report will be quite relevant and applicable to foundations and donors outside the US as well,” says Gabriel Kasper, Monitor consultant.

The report is available for free from the Monitor Institute's website.