In early 2025, nonprofits across the Greater Washington, DC region faced a perfect storm: sudden funding losses, rising demand for services, and deep uncertainty. A July survey of more than 240 local nonprofits found 38% had lost federal funding. Yet, far more, 61%, reported being affected by policy changes overall, showing the impact goes well beyond federal grant dollars. In response, the Greater Washington Community Foundation launched the Community Resilience Initiative to help nonprofits continue their work without disruption. From the outset, the initiative was anchored in flexibility, collaboration, and data. Based on insights from the survey and ongoing conversations with nonprofits, three things became clear early on.

A new law requiring electronic filing of the Form 990 goes into effect this year, and thousands of nonprofit organizations will be e-filing for the first time. To help groups navigate the e-filing process, the Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation (PSI) created an introductory brochure.

Independent Sector, in partnership with Edelman Data & Intelligence, released a third annual report of exclusive survey findings that explore the nuances of trust in American nonprofit, philanthropic organizations, and other institutions. The report also provides recommendations on how we can do better. 

The Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County’s 2022 Anne Arundel County needs assessment, Poverty Amidst Plenty VII: Moving Forward Together is now available electronically. The community needs assessment is a data-rich report intended to increase knowledge and awareness about persistent local trends and needs in Anne Arundel County. The report intends to increase knowledge and awareness as well as to frame informed discussions about persistent local trends and needs.

The philanthropic sector is an ecosystem: a web of interdependent actors, infinitely variable, striving constantly to build something greater than the sum of its parts. Philanthropy is also getting organized and reorganized. Funding collaboratives, unionized labor, new governance structures — individual actors are making moves, coming together to cause change on a broader scale. As ideas and methods gain attention, they introduce yet more dynamism to the environment. Today, we see this push-pull at work. In 2023 and beyond, we’ll see how it plays out. Check out the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy's 11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2023 Report to help you anticipate and embrace what’s next.

Over eight years of producing 11 Trends in Philanthropy, the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy team has combed the landscape of nonprofits and foundations for the most visible signs of a trend — the increased grant dollars, the emerging networks, familiar voices speaking up. This year’s trends share a familiar wealth of examples, data, quotes, and research publications that can help us all anticipate the vectors of change. But at the core of 11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2024, readers will find a set of questions rather than answers. Check out the report for yourself to see what questiosn the field will wrestle with in 2024.