As philanthropy continues to evolve, the question is no longer whether trust-based or traditional models are “better,” but how funders can intentionally design approaches that balance accountability, learning, and community voice. Revisiting insights from our Philanthropy at a Crossroads whitepaper, this post explores what’s changed—and what’s becoming clearer—in 2025.

Measuring the impact of your initiatives is essential to determine the effectiveness of your efforts. Impact measurement is both an art and a science that requires a systematic approach to collect and analyze data. It is not just about counting how many people you have reached, but about understanding the changes that have occurred in their lives.

In a room full of people who wake up in the morning in the service of others, and of a greater cause, the most impactful thing we can do is talk about how to instill better insights, processes, knowledge, tools, and data to amplify, improve, and scale their work, and bring to light the critical impact they create.