Caroline McLaughlin and Laura Savage reflect on the International Education Funders Group (IEFG) annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. 

The small group of us who coordinate philanthropy networks have developed a unique perspective on philanthropy. Through building networks, we aim to support grantmakers, build connections, and champion the potential of philanthropy to those who work within and alongside the sector. 

Over time, we have come to observe certain trends. These are present in the debates that members of our networks are having; the approaches being used in philanthropy to have impact and the thematic and geographic focus of grant-making. We notice when organisations sunset portfolios, and when clusters of new interests emerge. Our job is to respond to the questions and needs that our members have, and so we are acutely aware of how and when these trends change. 

But our perspective is limited to the boundaries of our network. 

In late 2022, the International Education Funders Group reflected on the internal trends and dynamics of education philanthropy and sought a ‘zoomed out’ perspective on how these sector-specific trends fit within wider, sector-agnostic philanthropy trends.

Heriot Row Advisors helped them to do just this, and in a new report, identified nine key trends for the education philanthropy community to consider. Each of these trends is related to the ‘why, what and how’ of philanthropic giving. 

We highlight three of these here, related to ‘the how’. 

Trend 1: Diversity of Donors

The first trend involves an increase in the diversity of ways donors are channelling funding. Across philanthropy, an increasing number of high-net-worth individuals are eschewing the traditional route of establishing foundations and instead channelling their funding through DAFs (Donor Advised Funds) and family offices. Whilst this can provide a more quick and easy way for funders to move donations, it also means they are more reliant on their bankers and philanthropy advisors for their giving and, as a result, rarely take time to understand the wider (education) sector.  

It is recognised that collaboration and collective action, both of which are needed to catalyse systems change, are challenging to achieve in practice. However, this approach is made even more difficult when a key stakeholder is unaware or uninterested in wider engagement. Executive Directors at foundations have always stressed the importance of building relationships with their grantees, but the anonymity of DAFs, the gatekeepers at Family Offices and an unwillingness of donors to contribute more than money, will make this increasingly difficult.

Trend 2: Technology Advances

The second trend relates to the use of technology to improve grant-making decisions. The unreliable, inconsistent, and sparse nature of data comes up often in Alliance. 

As a funder, this creates several challenges. Without reliable and comprehensive data, it becomes difficult to know which regions and issues are underfunded, making it hard to allocate resources effectively. Such issues can also undermine collaboration opportunities – reducing the grant-makers’ ability to identify potential partners and impacting localisation strategies that suffer without a map of stakeholders in the area. 

In assessing impact, the production and dissemination of high-quality education statistics are essential for effective planning and the successful allocation of scarce resources. A lack of expertise in data management has hindered the use of data’s potential as an enabler for change. However, in April 2023, Alliance Magazine discussed the eight pathways for data-driven innovations in philanthropy, which included system mapping, non-traditional data analysis, simulation, and rapid experimentation. Many foundations undertake mapping exercises. We propose that sharing this research in a central repository (like the IEFG member-benefit dashboard) can be invaluable in supporting foundation decision-making. Through this, the sector can work together to produce better data. 

Trend 3: Aligning Government and philanthropy

The third trend is the evolving relationship between philanthropy and government. Civic society is undergoing increasing scrutiny from governments – a trend that spans all regions of the world and has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. Even if a funder’s strategy is not aligned with government priorities, it is important to be aware of the political and regulatory environment in which your grantees are operating. For example, funders must be aware of government planning for (education) spending, approaches to local and foreign foundation support to civil society, and attitudes to both through social and mainstream media. Changes in legislation could impact long-term strategy in a region, or in a thematic area, or it could affect your grantees. 

On the flip side, increased regulation can lead to increased transparency which in turn can build trust between different civil society stakeholders, as well as public confidence in the sector. In the Philippines, for example, the absence of regulatory frameworks led to a lack of trust in the philanthropic ecosystem by civil society and individual donors. Here, funders themselves pushed for industry standards for philanthropists and philanthropic organisations as well as nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), leading to the foundation of the Philippine Council for NGO Certification.

Zooming out to reflect on the wider trends in philanthropic giving was a useful horizon-scanning exercise and reality check for education philanthropy. It helped us to pause and think hard about the sector-specific trends we observe in our own community, and to situate these within a wider giving context. 

It helped us to realise the extent and value of knowledge embedded within our own education ecosystem and prompted us to think about how to better use this. It highlighted some issues we haven’t yet observed in education, to track and think about. Above all, it underlined to us how all our work is interconnected, and how important it is to look up to find the levers that we can pull together for greater impact.  

We encourage you all to read and reflect on this report, and if it prompts you, too, to think about how we can work across sector silos together, do reach out – to Caroline at Caroline@heriotrowadvisors.com and Laura at laura@iefg.org. 

Caroline McLaughlin, Heriot Row Advisors

Laura Savage, IEFG