Imagine the PossibilitiesBy Peter Brach with assistance from OpenAI/ChatbotGPT
I am a funder and founder of Propel Philanthropy, presenting macro-level approaches for achieving far-reaching change. My purpose for this piece is less about the specific ideas or more about conveying the enormity of possibilities that we could achieve if we move beyond our silos to reach as far as possible with some portion of our time, talent, treasures, or ties.
Examples of Macro-level Possibilities
Possibility 1: Fuel Nonprofits to Achieve Maximum Good
The National Council of Nonprofits, TechSoup, Resource Alliance, and others collectively reach over 1.3 million nonprofits and civil society organizations in 236 countries worldwide. With this extensive reach and sufficient funding, why can’t we build a meta platform to fuel at least one million nonprofits to achieve higher levels of performances by 2030? Imagine the additional resources we would have if we did!
Possibility 2: Double the Productivity of Fundraising Organizations
GivingTuesday, GoFundMe, and others raise billions of dollars annually. What if we invested more in some of these organizations to bring their operations to full throttle so they could double or triple the charitable capital available by the end of the decade?
Possibility 3: Double Human Resources Focused on Achieving Social Impact
As two examples, VolunteerMatch has connected 13 million volunteers to nonprofits since its inception. Points of Light recruits volunteers whose efforts are valued at $482 million annually. By committing to providing sufficient support to organizations working to unlock diverse types of human resource capital, why can’t we double or triple the number of hands on deck to solve some of the world’s most serious problems by 2030?
Possibility 4: Increase the Social Impact Investment Market to 1.1 Trillion Dollars
The social impact market currently sits at $1.1 trillion, occupying approximately 2% of the global market. Can we set the goal of doubling these numbers to 2.2 trillion by 2030? We can invest in publicly targeted campaigns while doubling efforts to reach financial advisors and educate individuals from all sectors.
Possibility 5: Accelerate the Field of Social Innovation
Despite commendable efforts from organizations including Levers for Change and Catalyst 2030, the field of innovation remains considerably disconnected. We can make significant improvements by creating a highly organized social innovation sector by investing heavily in increasing collaboration, communication, coordination, cooperation, and connected relationship-building between actors. These efforts could enable us to identify considerably more of our most promising innovations and scale them across countries by 2030.
Possibility 6: Engage the General Public in Philanthropy
Hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. alone have no education on how to fund nonprofits or CSOs effectively. They don’t know what it means to give grants with an equity or gender lens. They’ve never heard about capacity building, trust-based philanthropy, supporting localized aid, or how to partner with communities, and they should! Investing in donor education could create a well-informed philanthropic sector equipped to make a lasting impact.
Possibility 7: Democratize Philanthropy Through Giving Circles
Giving Circles have raised close to $1.3 billion, exposing many people to valuable group learning and relationship-building opportunities. Giving circles democratize philanthropy by giving more donors agency. One attractive feature of these is that expansion is possible through word of mouth. With this consideration, I contend that we could unlock $10 billion dollars through this vehicle by 2030. Do you agree?
Possibility 8: Create an eHarmony for Collaboration
The need for identifying social impact collaboration opportunities – across different sectors – is almost ubiquitous. Currently, there are no platforms available that intakes an in-depth organizational profile and output possible partners. What about establishing an eHarmony platform available to millions of people seeking to achieve positive social impact? While this would not replace face-to-face trust-building experiences, we should consider the potential of ethical simulations through virtual reality combined with A.I.-powered state-of-the-art matchmaking technologies.
Possibility 9: Build More Partnerships between Philanthropy and Governments Globally
Philanthropy only provides a fraction of the development funding governments and development agencies deliver. Ideally, because of philanthropy’s experience and expertise, it would eventually work in partnership with hundreds of government ministries to ensure that many billions of dollars get spent effectively each year. Philanthropy organizations, including WINGS, The SDG Philanthropy Platform, and netFWD, have made inroads by building multi-stakeholder partnerships in different countries. However, these are small compared to what is needed. Can we set the goal of building productive partnerships with governments in 50 more countries by 2030?
Possibility 10 Address Global Poverty and Inequities
We can achieve significant progress in international development by strategically supporting well-networked organizations, including NGO Source, NEID Global, Women Moving Millions, Co-Impact, and the Global Philanthropy Forum. Investments in organizations such as these will lead to a more equitable world.
Some may think that these kinds of approaches are needed, but it is not what they do. It is important to remember that almost no funder focuses on macro-level possibilities such as these. That is why I am asking everyone who reads this to seriously consider investing some of their time, talents, treasures, or ties into building the broad infrastructure and resources that can create a bigger pie for so many of us!
Please share this piece with others. You can reach me directly at https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterbrach/