Author Archive:

Barry Knight

Opinion Rebecca Hanshaw and Barry Knight 13 July 2023

Breaking out of echo chambers: Expanding constituency conversations

Our consultations about the future of international development show that responsibility for deciding how money is spent should be transferred to people who receive the money rather than retained by those who give it.  This …

Opinion 1 Rebecca Hanshaw and Barry Knight 19 May 2023

Progress on reforming international development

In this article, we report progress on our consultations across the ‘development’ ecosystem in the nine months since the publication of the Jigsaw report that called for root and branch reform of international development. The …

Analysis Barry Knight 6 September 2022

An end to aid failure

Despite manifest failures and repeated criticisms, the machinery of international development remains substantially unchanged. It’s time for a radical overhaul A recently-launched study demonstrates overwhelming support for root and branch reform of international development. The …

Analysis Barry Knight 31 August 2021 For Subscribers

25 years of philanthropy

From the flourishing of civil society to the fall of philanthrocapitalism and shift to a more trust-based philanthropy, our field has changed considerably in the last 25 years Alliance was born into an age of …

Special feature Barry Knight and Lauren Bradford 4 June 2019

The peace deficit

A major new survey reflects concerns that philanthropy doesn’t give enough support to peace-building activities. If only it would, its qualifications for doing so are striking This article gives early results from a survey called …

Opinion Barry Knight 23 October 2018

The strange case of dignity

We need to build the capacity of actors on the ground to deliver an empowering strategy for users and beneficiaries, while satisfying the needs of multiple stakeholders, so that we can deliver our sustainable goals in accord …

Analysis Barry Knight 10 August 2018

Philanthropy needs all the help it can get

It is good to see that the Alliance Special Feature on ‘Philanthropy’s Developers’ pays homage to some of the pioneers of philanthropy infrastructure. To my mind, one of these – Barry Gaberman – merits special …

Conference reports Barry Knight 26 April 2018

Are we dancing on the edge?

‘Come to the edge’ was the invitation, and 200 came. The premise of the Edge Funders Conference held in New Orleans from 17th to 20th April 2018 was that from the edge you can see …

News Barry Knight 4 April 2018

What makes a strong ecosystem of support to philanthropy?

The stakes over the development of a sound and strong system to support and develop philanthropy have never been higher. In many regions the infrastructure is still emerging and needs to be strengthened and where …

Analysis Oksana Oracheva and Barry Knight 5 December 2017

Does philanthropy need a new story? 

A quiet revolution is under way in philanthropy. There is growth in unexpected places, a proliferation of new organizational forms, increased scepticism about the Anglo-American model, and a fine balance between large opportunities and unprecedented threats. These trends point in …