{"id":307,"date":"2015-12-12T13:25:39","date_gmt":"2015-12-12T21:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/?p=307"},"modified":"2015-12-15T09:14:19","modified_gmt":"2015-12-15T17:14:19","slug":"private-resources-for-public-good-lucy-bernholzs-annual-forecast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/?p=307","title":{"rendered":"Private Resources for Public Good: An annual forecast from Lucy Bernholz"},"content":{"rendered":"

“How do we carry the core purpose of civil society into the digital age?”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

“As we return to an era in which more than half of full time workers may be freelancing, the systems of social supports are going to have to change.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

“Perhaps more people\u2019s working lives will begin to look like those of independent artists and less like life-term nonprofit corporate climbing.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

“If the economy is undergoing fundamental shifts, what role do we want nonprofits, foundations, and other social economy actors to play?”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Excerpts, Philanthropy and the Social Economy: Blueprint 2016
\n<\/em>Lucy Bernholz<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/p>\n

These are all\u00a0quotes from\u00a0Philanthropy and the Social Economy: Blueprint 2016<\/em>, by Lucy Bernholz. I offer them to suggest the range of topics covered\u00a0in her latest annual forecast for people working in and interested in philanthropy and the social economy.<\/p>\n

Every December for the past seven years, Lucy, a self-professed philanthropy wonk<\/em>*, has written a forecast for philanthropy and the social economy \u2013 that is, the economy that uses private resources for public good. She provides insight into big ideas that will matter in the coming year, makes specific predictions for 2016, identifies buzzwords that will likely come into prominence, and offers glimpses into deeper concerns she sees coming over the horizon. She packs a lot into the forecast\u2019s 24 pages. I\u2019ve had the good fortune to work with her since the publication was just an idea. In general terms, my role is as sounding board, clarifier, and editor.<\/p>\n

The latest installment, Blueprint 2016: Philanthropy and the Social Economy<\/em> (link below), was published just last\u00a0week by GrantCraft, a service of the Foundation Center. For the past six years, Lucy has been pushing her readers to expand their understanding of the social economy beyond just nonprofits and charitable giving to include a wider world that includes social enterprises (B Corporations, L3Cs), online alliances, social impact investing, informal networks, and political activism. She has also been a consistent voice urging greater awareness of our \u201cdigital civil society,\u201d in other words, the ways we use our private resources for public benefit in the digital age.<\/p>\n

\"blueprint_2016_fina\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\"blueprint_2015cover\"<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s Blueprint 2015<\/em> contained sections that provide a great\u00a0summary of\u00a0both the social economy and digital civil society. Especially if you\u2019re not familiar with Lucy’s\u00a0thinking or with these concepts, I highly recommend it. The Blueprints may be annual forecasts, but their value extends considerably beyond a single year.<\/p>\n

The structure of work<\/span><\/h3>\n

Working with Lucy always teaches\u00a0me a lot, and\u00a0this year I was especially excited because one of the two big ideas she urges us\u00a0to watch next year has also been on my mind: the structure of work. She considers\u00a0how work is\u00a0changing and how these changes\u00a0apply to philanthropy and the social economy. She says:<\/p>\n

The coming year is shaping up to see the issues of workers\u2019 rights, wages, and income inequality raised to the level of national and regional political topics. It\u2019s time to consider how the changing workplace and its impact on lives and communities influences nonprofits, foundations, and civil society.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She considers research on the impact of advances in robotics and automation. She mentions scholars and activists focused on inequality and on increasing wages for the lowest-paid workers. She provides statistics that support the conclusion that \u201calmost half of us \u2013 with or without smartphone apps and the rhetoric of the \u2018gig\u2019 economy \u2013 are working by the project or one-off opportunity whether we recognize it or not.\u201d We\u2019re freelancers and part-time or temporary workers.<\/p>\n

She emphasizes that, as we enter an era in which more than half of full-time workers may be freelancers, the systems of social supports (from social security to health care, taxes, childcare, and retirement funds) are going to have to change. Having spent almost all my working life as this kind of worker, I wholeheartedly agree.<\/p>\n

One approach to revising\u00a0\u2013\u00a0or reforming\u00a0\u2013\u00a0our system of social supports was the topic of discussion in a different setting,\u00a0a recent conversation<\/a> at Seattle\u2019s Town Hall, organized by\u00a0Edward Wolcher and me\u00a0under the series title, Penny U. The\u00a0discussion\u00a0revolved around the establishment of a minimum basic income \u2013 an idea championed by Martin Luther King, conservative economist F.A. Hayek, and Robert Reich<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Artists\u2019 work<\/span><\/h3>\n

In Lucy\u2019s Blueprint 2016<\/em>, I especially appreciate that she includes artists in her thinking. The following two passages among others, appear in this issue:<\/p>\n

Some of civil society has operated as a \u2018gig economy\u2019 for a long time. In particular, artists and activists have often spent their entire lives weaving in and out of \u2018regular jobs,\u2019 doing their work independently and as part of institutions.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even if only a handful of the predictions being made about the future of work are accurate, many more of us, not just artists, are likely to need the skills of designing our own work lives as hybrid part-time workers and self-employed entrepreneurs rather than just taking full-time jobs defined by others.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And more<\/span><\/h3>\n

The 2016 Blueprint <\/em>investigates and provokes questions about many other related topics. The short quotes I use to start this piece\u00a0only begin to suggest the range of compelling topics and themes covered. Rather than spend any more time summarizing them, I simply suggest that you go to GrantCraft\u2019s site (links below), download your own copy, and read the original.<\/p>\n

Here are a few more quotes to tempt you:<\/p>\n

“Given all the changes in the nature of employment, the spread of automation, and the fluctuating value of data, we\u2019re bound to see new enterprise forms.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

“We need to develop governance models, organizational norms, and new policies for digital civil society.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

“We need to understand and adapt the ways data and algorithms are used to shape public policy.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

“In today\u2019s online environment, the less data collected, the safer the individual.”
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

“What does a social sector characterized by networks, distributed governance, and greater rates of spending look like compared to what we know now?”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

* Lucy Bernholz<\/span><\/strong> has worked in, consulted to, and written about philanthropy and the social economy since 1990. Now she is a visiting scholar at Stanford University and works at the Digital Civil Society Lab, which is part of Stanford\u2019s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS). Her blog is titled \u201cPhilanthropy 2173, on Twitter she\u2019s known as @p2173, and she posts most of her\u00a0articles, speeches, and presentations online at www.lucybernholz.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0 Read the press release for\u00a0Blueprint 2016 here<\/a>.
\n\u2022 \u00a0 Download Blueprint 2016 here<\/a>.
\n\u2022 \u00a0 Download Blueprint 2015 here<\/a>.
\n\u2022 \u00a0 Connect with Lucy\u2019s blog, Philanthropy 2173 here<\/a>.
\n\u2022 \u00a0 Find more about the Digital Civil Society Lab here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

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