A Note from Our President
As we close out 2025, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on a year that brought a lot of change to Building Impact Partners, our clients, and the communities we serve—and to share what we’re keeping our eyes on in 2026.
This year brought sweeping changes to our country and the world, and the philanthropic space was no exception. Education funders continue to grapple with persistent achievement gaps as policy context shifts, and low-income communities face increasing challenges accessing public benefits and navigating the impacts of immigration policy. Ultra-high net worth families are navigating the acceleration of the great wealth transfer, wrestling with questions about their core values and the continuation of their legacy. And across the board, the question that drives all of us: how do we create lasting, meaningful impact when the needs are greater than ever?
At Building Impact Partners, we’re committed to exploring that question alongside our clients, partners, and communities to create lasting change. Wishing you and yours a happy holiday season.
— Caitlin Hannon, President
2025 Highlights at BIP
Over 26,000 Students Served
We supported the implementation of Ballmer Group’s Summer Discovery program in Southeast Michigan, which served more than 26,000 students across 169 sites (and has plans to grow!).
Creating Career Pathways
BIP served as an implementation partner for a $250 million initiative geared toward creating career pathways to high-demand jobs.
Supporting Generational Transitions
We worked alongside multiple multi-generational UHNW families who control more than $1B and collectively give away more than $100M annually to support the transition between generations, ensuring core values and lasting impact remain at the center of their work.
Training New Advisors
With support from
Give for the Future,
Building Impact Partners trained the third cohort of
Advisors Accelerator.
This network now helps advise on more than $650 million annually in giving.
Doubled Our Team
This year, we welcomed Partner Nicole Brisbane, Chief Operating Officer Latricia Barksdale, and 8
additional team members,
bringing more expertise, new perspectives, and better service to our clients.
New Partnerships Formed
From donor circles to major foundations, we continue to expand our reach and deepen our impact.
And that’s just a portion of our work. We’re grateful that we get to do this alongside you and are energized by the work ahead.
Voices from Our Team
We asked our partners about the lessons they’re taking away from 2025. Here’s what they had to say:
What We Learned in 2025
Caitlin, President & Partner
You can put resources into the field despite having a lean team. We worked a lot on the “implementation” front of our high-impact grantmaking work this year, supporting major donors who had a big idea they wanted to implement without bureaucracy .
Nicole, Partner
Workforce development might be the next wave of big education giving. Investing in workforce development gives more students access to post-secondary success, fills critical gaps in the local workforce, and puts students on a path to meaningful wages. By partnering with schools and communities to strengthen their approach to this work, philanthropists are supporting exciting innovations, such as transforming traditional CTE high school programs to world-class career-connected learning models.
Mike, Partner
Place-based giving is having a moment—and rightly so. This type of work, in which donors invest deeply in a specific region or neighborhood to empower residents and build a thriving, sustainable future, is on the rise and becoming increasingly accessible. We led a workshop at Philanthropy Southwest on how we can strengthen the social sector by encouraging funders to drive place-based impact through healthy resource flow, strong organizational capacity, responsiveness to community, and a supportive ecosystem.
Alex, Founding Partner
Continued scrutiny on nonprofits and philanthropy means we must revisit approaches. Federal funding freezes put a halt to programming earlier this year, forcing nonprofits and philanthropy to rethink emergency grantmaking. As oversight intensifies, board members and leading staff will need to lean in—strong governance and adaptive strategies are more critical than ever.
Trends to Watch in 2026
Here’s what our partners are excited about as they look ahead to the new year:
Nicole, Partner
Women-led philanthropy shifting the landscape. While philanthropy has traditionally been dominated by UHNW men, women are increasingly making waves with large, unrestricted grants to organizations that align with their values. Recent research suggests that women give more and are more responsive to social and political change. Women give differently in ways that matter, and their growing leadership will make a lasting impact in the field.
Mike, Partner
Accessing all the levers for change—donors are utilizing their political capital, social capital, expertise, and more—not just traditional check-writing. This is particularly critical as an estimated $85 trillion is flowing to Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z, who are already thinking differently about their influence.
Caitlin, President & Partner
Getting capital off the sidelines. Tax policy changes may lead donors to bunch intended multi-year gifts at the end of 2025, but the question is: will they have a plan for spending that money out, or will DAFs grow even larger, leaving more capital on the sidelines when it could be creating impact now?
Alex, Founding Partner
Building philanthropic infrastructure to meet a shifting landscape. As nonprofits grapple with a shifting funding landscape, some of the most farsighted donors are directing more of their own giving to invest in philanthropic infrastructure to scale more giving across the field to meet these needs. Fiscal sponsorship, donor activation, and donor advising will be areas where more experienced philanthropists encourage their peers to move more money for impact and personal satisfaction.
Looking Ahead
The new year is poised for even greater opportunity at a time of tremendous need. Whether you are seeking to pivot your foundation’s strategy, navigate the complexities of wealth transfer, or integrate your giving for total impact, we’d love to start a conversation.
Thank you for a year of shared impact. We look forward to partnering with you in 2026.
Warmly,
The Building Impact Partners Team
