A groundbreaking new survey released today by the Altruist League underscores the lack of faith changemakers have in government, with further data demonstrating the need for reform in humanitarian organizations.

This in-depth report examines how philanthropy can be brought into accelerating systemic change within society. The survey asked questions of funding members and organizations involved in climate change and combating inequality in race, gender, and wealth.

The results paint a startling picture. First, the world is on the brink of major socio-political unrest. This can be seen in the recent protests in America surrounding the death of George Floyd spreading to an international movement causing statues to tumble around the world as a preview. Second, the need for radical change in how we think about philanthropic institutions. The survey results call for institutions to have flexible structures, staffed by experts local to the issues, with engaged funding sources, innovative approaches in campaigning, and a unified narrative. Technological resources need to be used to increase effectiveness in the real-world change sought by non-profits and humanitarian organizations.

Key Takeaways:

Revolution is on the horizon. A total of 66% of our portfolio now believes that it is fine to break the law in some cases to raise awareness about a problem. This percentage has more than doubled in two years.

People don’t have confidence in making changes to their political systems. A full 60% predict continued tension and gridlock when looking for change in government, with an unclear outcome.

The public no longer gives philanthropy the benefit of the doubt. 83% of those surveyed feel that philanthropy needs more honesty in its approach to improving the world.

Philanthropic investing is antiquated. Only 22% of those surveyed feel impact investing style strategies can bring about real change, even though 71% support those in general.

Proper networking between donors and nonprofits is not currently productive. Donors (77%) believe in the notion of added value. This makes sense – it is tough for anyone to feel like all that is required of them is their money. The nonprofits are not seeing the value in practice – 32% find that their donors add non-financial value.

Too often organizations are focused on their continued existence through securing funding rather than solving the problem. 3,700 articles in philanthropy’s leading publications were analyzed, showing 60% of the articles were about how to attract, manage and keep donors, or about donor activities.

Technology is not being leveraged correctly. Less than 17% of respondents feel data use is bringing them a competitive advantage. Cutting edge solutions are hyped, but improperly used, with 85% of big data and AI initiatives failing.

Methodology:

The survey was anonymous. It consisted of 20 questions and was conducted between 14 April and 2 June 2020. There were 1333 responses, 140 from the Altruist League membership organizations (a response rate of 52%) and 1193 from the groups and movements in the portfolio (a response rate of

59%). In many cases, multiple people from one organization took the survey. The survey was supplemented by fifteen unstructured interviews, each about 1 hour long. Organizations from 23 countries were represented. Survey results were analyzed with input from the Harvard University’s Behavioral Insights Group.