Data Spurs Emergence of a "Digital Civil Society": New Edition of Annual Blueprint Forecast Offers Insights, Predictions for Philanthropy

New York, NY — December 4, 2013. Released today, Philanthropy and the Social Economy: Blueprint 2014 is the much anticipated annual forecast for the industry of philanthropy. Written by leading scholar Lucy Bernholz, the latest edition — which considers the European context for the first time in addition to the American landscape — explains the shifts that come as civil society is manifested in digital environments, including opportunities to establish a new standard of trust regarding how private data are used for public benefit. As data become more and more a part of our everyday lives, ethical challenges facing philanthropic enterprises of all types emerge.

“Now, more than ever, we need new frameworks to understand and shape philanthropy for the 21st century,” said Lucy Bernholz, visiting scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society and author of Blueprint 2014. “I’m hopeful the Blueprint can further regional and global conversations about how philanthropy — in all its various forms — can best evolve to meet society’s needs in this rapidly changing world.”

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