sparks & honey Partners With Esteemed Morgridge Family Foundation To Redefine The Future of Philanthropy

New Report Uncovers The Cultural Shifts & Societal Challenges Impacting the Giving Landscape For Nonprofits and Corporations


NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- sparks & honey, Omnicom Group’s technology-led cultural consultancy, announced today the launch of a new report, The Future of Giving, which explores five major cultural shifts impacting giving, and the current opportunities and challenges facing the diverse stakeholders in this space. The consultancy partnered with The Morgridge Family Foundation on this initiative after it welcomed philanthropist, social impact investor and author Carrie Morgridge to its Advisory Board earlier this year.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, we’ve seen philanthropic and non-profit organizations become the center of daily conversations on how to help those in need during this turbulent time, but we rarely discuss how this space is rapidly evolving. We need to understand the shifts in order to know how to navigate them and evolve our organizations accordingly,” said Vice President and Chief Disruptor of The Morgridge Family Foundation, Carrie Morgridge. “The Morgridge Family Foundation has always believed in fostering innovation and creating meaningful connections to help nonprofits reimagine solutions to today’s biggest challenges - this report is a big part of that work.”

In an effort to change the way organizations view and prioritize philanthropic endeavors, making giving a fundamental first step in any business-crucial considerations, the report aims to address critical questions on the minds of leaders across this space: how will the future of charitable giving be impacted by growing societal distrust in corporations and government institutions? How to engage young donors who are currently challenging old guard perspectives? What role do brands and corporate leaders need to play in this evolving ecosystem?

“Using data and insights from our proprietary platform Q, we’re able to see around corners and anticipate the hurdles philanthropic organizations will be facing in the near future,” said Founder and CEO of sparks & honey, Terry Young. “With the help of Carrie and the Foundation’s expertise, we were able to dissect which trends will have the most profound impact on this space over the next year and beyond, and provide strategic recommendations on where these leaders need to be focusing their attention and resources to be able to make the most impact in the short and long term.”

The report explores five structural shifts impacting giving:

  • Brand as Benefactor. The rise of values-consumerism is creating the expectation that brands behave more like nonprofits, putting pressure on corporate leaders to use their growing political and economic influence to drive positive societal change. More than ever, nonprofits compete directly with brands for share of mind, but brands are some of the lowest givers, despite their outward claims, using their charitable giving programs more as a corporate perk to attract the best talent. In the future, we’ll see increased visibility of nonprofit leaders and more long-term strategic partnerships between brands and nonprofits. 
  • Precision Funding: Giving organizations are using advanced technologies such as AI, algorithms and social data to optimize giving and create more transparent and streamlined experiences. With the help of this data, organizations can gain cultural relevance through proactive giving, which will push away from band-aid tactical solutions of responsive giving and focus on collective preventative global efforts.
  • Youth Rising: With more progressive, socially-inclusive views, young donors, especially Millennials and Gen Z, overwhelmingly support social causes over individual institutions. Giving organizations will need to dial up its digital capabilities, as well as social stances, to align with the expectations of the next generations of givers.
  • Diminishing Societal Trust: A declining trust in corporations and government agencies, growing skepticism of political motives, organizational effectiveness and transparency is driving people to reconsider or eliminate their engagement with more traditional philanthropic and nonprofit institutions. Nonprofit organizations will need to champion trust to reconnect with those who are more inclined to fund causes and not organizations.
  • Evolving Existential Risk: Existential threats are skyrocketing and have only been escalated by the Coronavirus pandemic. From political polarization affecting environmental funding to growing inequities brought on by AI, the social and economic norms around giving are radically changing. As risks to humanity mean risks to giving, nonprofits will need to consolidate efforts to generate greater impact.

sparks & honey and The Morgridge Foundation will unpack these findings and more over the course of three virtual events in Fall 2020. Each one will focus on how nonprofits can tackle global issues such as climate change, social activism amongst Gen Z and Millennials and opportunities for innovation in the philanthropic space to reengineer traditional giving. RSVP to attend these events here.

Young and Morgridge will also be meeting with leaders across the corporate and non-profit space over the coming months to discuss the report’s key findings and how changes can be implemented to redefine the giving space. Many of which will also be explored in a chapter of Morgridge’s new book, Courage Money, which is set to release in March 2021.

You can also find a copy of the full downloadable report on sparks & honey’s website: https://www.sparksandhoney.com/reports-list/2020/9/14/the-future-of-giving

About sparks & honey: sparks & honey is a technology-based cultural consultancy delivering innovative growth and transformation strategy for global organizations. With their first-of-its-kind, human and AI-powered intelligence platform Q™, sparks & honey’s comprehensive framework for understanding and predicting cultural change drives bold decision-making and business impact for today’s leaders. A disruptive force to the traditional consulting model, sparks & honey identifies emerging cultural trends and industry shifts, helping organizations stay ahead of the curve in a disruption-prone world – the company is part of the Omnicom Precision Marketing Group.

About Omnicom Group Inc.: Omnicom Group (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.  Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries. Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.

About The Morgridge Family Foundation: The Morgridge Family Foundation invests in leaders and organizations that are reimagining solutions to some of today’s biggest challenges. MFF offers vision, community, and resources to support a network of partners achieving their profound impact. Learn more at thinkmff.org.

Press Contact:
Christine Perez
DiGennaro Communications
christine@digennaro-usa.com
212.966.9525

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/051e1e2c-9ec4-422c-9096-9d38c99e975c


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