Philanthropy is on the defensive. Recent bestsellers have accused it of hypocrisy, ineffectiveness, and of serving to protect the status quo. There are more and more prominent billionaire philanthropists out there, but somehow the problems in our society persist – growing inequality, a crisis of dignity, climate inaction. Philanthropy needs fixing if it hopes to keep any relevance.

The authors propose a way forward through:

• adopting the principles of New Philanthropy: a better change theory and focus on systemic issues,
• embracing New Power,
• building alliances, while adopting new technological and financial models.

Crucially, the authors remark that philanthropy can only change if philanthropists do. They are seeing a trend emerge – new funders who are intrinsically motivated and for whom investing in change is a pursuit with existential meaning rather than as a vanity exercise. The book predicts an upcoming split in the field. Philanthropy as we know it will become obsolete, true financial altruism will grow and might help solve the existential problems of our time.