New Philanthropy Capital

More and more funders are turning their ambitions to systems change, a shift which requires funders to look and act differently. For some, this marks a big departure. Traditional funding practices have often actively undermined systems change—short-term funding and highly restrictive grants impede organisations’ ability to adapt and respond, collaborate, and consider their wider role in the system. Funding for systems change means not only funding different things, but funding differently.

About this event How can environmental and social justice organisations better work with, learn from, and be guided by people and communities who experience environmental and social inequalities most acutely? How can civil society leaders across both sectors collaborate more strategically given the challenges of the external context they face? An online webinar to share the key learnings emerging from the Everyone’s Environment programme.

About this event How can environmental and social justice organisations better work with, learn from, and be guided by people and communities who experience environmental and social inequalities most acutely? How can civil society leaders across both sectors collaborate more strategically given the challenges of the external context they face? This online report launch webinar will share the key learnings emerging from the .

When we say that boys and young men are underfunded, we recognise that some people may ask: what about everyone else? It is a fair question. Many communities and causes remain under-resourced, and The Invisible Field, a joint report from Movember and NPC, is not arguing that boys and young men should be prioritised at the expense of any other group. Rather, it argues that this is an area of need that is currently under-recognised and underfunded as a distinct field.

The world that charities operate in is changing fast. Rising demand, constrained funding, political uncertainty, and complex social challenges mean that organisations are increasingly having to respond to circumstances that can shift rapidly. In this environment, a fixed, rigid strategy can quickly become out of date. But equally, organisations need enough clarity and consistency to stay focused on their mission.

About this event Many organisations are talking about systems change. But what does it actually look like in practice? While the term is becoming more common, it can still feel abstract. We know that many in the impact economy are looking for practical examples to help bring systems change to life.

Many charities collect data, but not all of them feel confident about how to use it. Reviewing responses to NPC’s data diagnostic tool, I saw two practical opportunities for organisations that want to strengthen their learning: make better use of existing evidence and make more of remote data collection. Neither has to be complicated, but both work best when they start with a clear question about what you need to learn.

In my previous blog, Does your grantee have a unique selling point?, I argued that many charities lack a ‘unique selling point’ in the traditional business sense. They are not protected by barriers to entry; they are not always easy to scale; and, if you look at them purely through a financial lens, many can appear hard to distinguish from one another.

In a recent blog, we explored a simple question: what does ‘systems change’ even mean? One key takeaway was that ‘systems thinking’ offers a different way to look at problems. It focuses on the wider conditions shaping people’s experiences, not just visible symptoms. So how does this apply to evaluation? You might take a systems lens to evaluation when: Your work is intentionally trying to influence a wider system, such as policy, attitudes, or collaboration.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a future issue for charities – it’s already here. From drafting funding applications to analysing data and supporting service delivery, AI tools are quietly becoming embedded in day-to-day work across the sector. For many boards, though, AI can still feel abstract, technical, or distant from core trustee responsibilities. That was one of the key themes at our recent NPC and Clothworkers’ Company event, led by Tim Cook, CEO and Founder of AIConfident.