A sideways glance at the evolution of the language of philanthropy over the last two-and-a-half decades

As the practice of philanthropy has changed over the last 25 years, so has the language it uses to describe itself.

If you leaf through the Alliance of, say, September 1999, you will find a different set of preoccupations and means of expression. In 1999, the stress is more firmly on NGOs and on corporate citizenship. You don’t come across the term ‘multi-stakeholder partnership’ much, nor words like ‘diversity’ or ‘inclusion’.

Lucy Bernholz’s Blueprint 2017 –  ‘systems change philanthropy’ back in vogue.