When Stephanie Beasley of the Chronicle of Philanthropy took a look at the research brief I prepared on philanthropic foundations using non-grant capital, she was as surprised as I was at the results: just 115 foundations using non-grant capital (alongside grants) on a repeated basis.

She asked me my thoughts on why this number wasn’t higher.

Corporate philanthropy is changing.

For decades, companies have measured their grant-making primarily through their corporate foundation's philanthropic giving, or in some cases, the grants they make as part of sustainability programs. Additionally, employee volunteerism and engagement have been calculated to help augment a corporate philanthropic funding target.

Putting too much pressure on philanthropy to solve all of our systemic challenges facing the planet is not going to help make any of those problems disappear, nor will it encourage donors to ante up more resources.