A survey of philanthropy has found that the global challenges across 2020 and 2021 led a third of global funders to accelerate their spending.

‘Global Trends and Strategic Time Horizons in Philanthropy’ is a report published by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. The researchers analysed responses from 150 philanthropies from 30 countries.

The other finding of RPA’s research was that the global crises led some foundations to consider revisiting their philanthropic timelines. Building on RPA’s previous research on understanding the factors that affect a foundation’s consideration in choosing the length of time for which it will remain active, the research found that with the advent of COVID-19, socio-economic uncertainty, and rising geopolitical tensions, the responses help illuminate how and why philanthropic organizations make important decisions, including those about funders’ philanthropic timeframes.

Education, community and economic development, and health are top programmatic priorities overall. When comparing differences among the time horizons, “political, civil, and human rights” was cited as the third leading area of programmatic focus among those considering a time-limited model, fourth for time-limited respondents and fifth for in-perpetuity organizations.

To read the full report, visit rockpa.org.