Like any other sector, philanthropy exists within the broader context of socio-economic and cultural change. Whether it be technological transformation, the shifting nature of wealth accumulation, or a drive towards transparency or devolution, philanthropy inevitably absorbs and reckons with the implications of such trends, and in doing so, naturally generates questions and debates about its own methodology and processes along the way.

The field of institutional philanthropy is not a monolith. We are talking about more than ten thousand organisations in the UK alone, each with different priorities, processes and histories. Therefore any attempt to identify “trends” within this space is going to be necessarily partial. Most organisations will be focused on the day-to-day business of meeting beneficiary need in the way that they always have – through careful and considered grant-making underpinned by a deep knowledge of an issue, community or concern.