The stellar rise of the new philanthropic intermediary

Undeniably the rapid rise of a new and innovative breed of intermediaries is driving the recent rapid growth in the social investment or ‘philanthrocapitalist’ movement. These are agencies such as Venture Philanthropy Partners, Impetus, New Philanthropy Capital, Geneva Global, Ark and many others who have emerged within the last few years to attract and support a new type of donor, the ‘social investor’. The new intermediaries have increasing power to affect the future shape of major philanthropy, creating the field as well as supporting individual donors. What are the new bodies offering? Can we compare or benchmark one with another? How will the emerging intermediary infrastructure increase the impact of philanthropy?