Convergence: How Five Trends Will Reshape the Social Sector

James Irvine Foundation, November 2009

According to Convergence: How Five Trends Will Reshape the Social Sector, "for the nonprofit sector to survive and thrive, everyone — nonprofits, funders and capacity builders alike — must become futurists. This does not mean predicting the future (an impossible task if ever there was one) but instead means being attuned to rapid and continual shifts in the environment; continually evaluating and interpreting how organizations can best adapt; and experimenting with new responses and approaches."

This research, sponsored by the James Irvine Foundation, identified five key trends converging to reshape the social sector. While each dynamic has profound implications for how nonprofits will do business in the future, it is their convergence that will transform the sector. These trends include:

• Demographic Shifts Redefine Participation
• Technological Advances Abound
• Networks Enable Work to Be Organized in New Ways
• Interest in Civic Engagement and Volunteerism Is Rising
• Sector Boundaries Are Blurring

Each of the five major trends is changing the way the nonprofit sector operates. Convergence briefly defines each of these trends and the impact of their convergence on the sector, highlights some innovative responses already underway and calls out unanswered questions for further dialogue among nonprofits, funders and capacity builders.

http://www.irvine.org/images/stories/pdf/eval/convergencereport.pdf