As 2024 winds down, we at Building Impact Partners are reflecting on the year in philanthropy and looking ahead to the landscape and opportunities that await all of us in 2025. 

In 2024, our team worked shoulder to shoulder with individuals, families, and foundations to advance their social impact goals and values. We:

• Worked closely with families in creating new philanthropic vehicles 
• Built and ran summer programming that served tens of thousands of students across eight geographies through our High Impact Grantmaking work
• Supported redesign efforts and leadership transitions in a pair of well-respected place-based foundations
• Helped launch a new foundation focused on biodiversity
• Graduated another cohort of philanthropy advisors through our Advisors Accelerator program, growing this peer learning community to over 35 members advising on more than $300M of annual grantmaking

We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with so many thoughtful changemakers. Reflecting on the year, we foresee 2025 being a transitional year for U.S. philanthropy, like 2016-2017. Changes in Washington, coupled with events around the world, will inspire action and reaction from those working toward a just and prosperous world. These are some of the trends we’re watching and thinking about: 

• An Increased Focus on Systemic Change: Traditional grantmaking is evolving to identify and address the root causes of complex social problems. We foresee working with clients to navigate tricky contexts and complicated landscapes.
• More Community-Centric Philanthropy: Philanthropists are increasingly realizing that empowering communities drives change most effectively. We foresee supporting our clients in designing philanthropic efforts that are responsive to local needs.
• Creative Cross-Sector Collaboration: Impactful philanthropy requires collaboration both among philanthropists and across sectors, including government, nonprofits, and business. As public sector priorities and social investment changes, more than ever we look forward to working with clients to make scaled, leverage-building bets.
• Thinking More Expansively: Over the next several years, we foresee working with philanthropists of all sizes to expand the ways they can effect change. Pairing philanthropy and advocacy, for instance, can magnify social impact. 
• Continuing to Support New Philanthropists and Emerging Leaders: We look forward to working with many new donors in the coming year, helping new donors to get organized and intentional with their giving as well as supporting younger generations to step into leadership and more deeply understand the space. 

Leading Our Firm into 2025: Caitlin Hannon

Just as the landscape will evolve in the new year, we too will be evolving to ensure we can meet the dynamic shifts facing our sector. At Building Impact Partners, we are thrilled to announce that Caitlin Hannon will be leading us joyfully forward as our new president. Caitlin has been affiliated with the firm since 2019, and she brings nearly two decades of experience leading changemaking organizations, launching philanthropic initiatives, and running campaigns.

If you have had the chance to work with Caitlin, you have witnessed her talents. She pairs passion with pragmatism to tackle seemingly impossible problems and take bold risks. Her career spans elected office on a local school board, founding a nonprofit to help parents navigate school choice, and launching high-impact grantmaking opportunities focused on education and workforce development. In designing, implementing, and promoting effective philanthropic initiatives, Caitlin always advocates for centering the stories and perspectives of those most affected by the inequities our clients aim to address.

Alex Johnston, who has served as our president since founding the firm in 2012, is handing over day-to-day leadership to engage even more deeply with existing clients as well as emerging donors who are seeking to gear up their giving. Building on the ideas in his book “Money with Meaning,” he will be focusing his pillar of our business on building out the research, insights, and practical infrastructure needed to get more philanthropy flowing across the field. 

Rounding out the partnership, Mike Wang will remain focused on advising senior and emerging leaders in the sector and developing and launching strategy and new initiatives with them.To that end, 2025 will present no shortage of work for all of us who envision a more equitable world. A new landscape is taking shape for those seeking to address the challenges in their communities and around the globe. We stand ready to make a difference with you.