The New Frontiers of Philanthropy Project (NFP) is a major initiative to broaden the base of knowledge and boost awareness about the new actors and tools surfacing in the leveraged philanthropy and social investing arenas. To do so, the project is producing comprehensive, objective new content examining the full range of these developments, brought to the widest possible audience through an aggressive dissemination and field broadening initiative.
We are defining philanthropy, broadly, as the mobilization of private resources towards social and environmental objectives. This framing includes traditional grant-making but also the larger world of social investing, including impact investing, microfinance, community development finance, and the new approaches to corporate social engagement.
Enormous social, economic, and environmental problems confront the world today, yet the resources of both governments and traditional philanthropy are barely growing or in decline. It is increasingly clear that new models for financing social and environmental objectives are urgently needed. In response to this need, an enormous proliferation of new actors and tools is emerging on the frontiers of traditional philanthropy that could usher in a new phase of social purpose finance. However, these new developments remain nascent and largely uncharted. For the new approaches to philanthropy and social investing to achieve the impact of which they are capable, they will need to make the jump to a broader network of participants.
The project is designed to provide a clear and accessible roadmap to this emerging field—increasing its credence and traction, deepening understanding of its potential, and ultimately bringing this expanded knowledge to the attention of much larger audiences who can act on its message, including nonprofit managers, business leaders, corporate social responsibility officers, public policy experts, microfinance providers, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, impact investors, CRA-motivated banks, private investors, accountants, investment advisors, bankers, insurance companies, pension funds, public officials, and community development finance institutions.
The overall goal of this project is to improve our ability to address the world’s growing social, economic, and environmental problems by increasing the resources available to the social entrepreneurs effectively coping with them. To do so, the project will broaden and strengthen the field of leveraged philanthropy and social investment that is tapping new sources of social finance. More specifically, the project will:
For more information, please contact Project Director Lester Salamon.