Insights on the future of the UK social sector in 2025 shared with 2017 cohort of Clore Social Fellows during May leadership residential in Edinburgh.

1. The social sector driving social and environmental change in the UK
Curated by Future Agenda
Clore Social | Edinburgh - May 2017

2. During 2015 we undertook 120 workshops in 45 cities around
the world discussing the future of 25 topics with over 3000 people.
The output is has been shared via website, social networks and a book.
Initial
Perspectives
Q4 2014
Global
Discussions
Q1-3 2015
Insight
Synthesis
Q4 2015/16
Sharing of
Output /
Deeper Study
2017

3. Business Solutions to Societal Problems
Re-visioning the role of business in society may lead to a reduction in
inequality, less partisan politics and greater action as businesses take
the lead rather than waiting for Government to lead them.

4. Overhead Avoidance
Systems, salaries and training in not-for-profit organisations often suffer
from lack of investment as these organisations feel pressured by funders
(and other) expectations to maintain unrealistic overhead ratios.

5. Third Sector Consensus
Society’s continuing dependence on the third sector to take on roles
traditionally provided by the state calls for it to better define and
co-ordinate its collective approach, impact and needs.

6. Creating Skills Demand
NfP investment in leadership development initiatives helps ensure the
long-term health of the sector but this requires funders and regulators to
support the adoption of and measure against an agreed leadership code.

7. Redefining Citizen and State
Community engagement will come to define the relationship
between citizens and the state. Boundaries will become blurred
and power will become increasingly decentralised.

8. Contract Compromises
Increased involvement of social organisations in the delivery of state
funded services limit social sector independence and may mean they
are obliged to deliver services which do not fit with their values.

9. Social Sector’s Heart-to-Heart
Competition for funding and separate agendas continue to impede
shared learning within the charitable sector and prohibits
collaboration and agreement about where it adds real value.

10. Spending Choices
There is a shift in social investment toward capacity building and system
change because, despite best efforts, too much government money gets
lost in the system and too much philanthropic money is misdirected.

11. Austerity as Opportunity
Budget constraints mean that doing good shifts from supporting others to the
removal of obstacles which prevent individuals from accessing opportunity.
Social models change from ‘doing to’ people to “building self-reliance”.

12. Changing Corporate Motivations
Brought up with technology, 2025 business leaders have different motivations
and will challenge the current order of influence. In turn this will impact how
they collaborate with others and redefine the meaning of success.

13. New Models of Legitimacy
Interdependent issues and collective intelligence re-designs governance
and civic participation, maturing from small scale start ups to broader
based collaborations where success is judged by wide scale impact.

14. Those Who Hold the Purse Strings
Doing good is value-laden. The agenda is shaped by government and
the wealthy. The third sector continues to bow to this, potentially
limiting innovation and the possibility of change.

15. Closing the Inequality Gap
One of the challenges facing the state is how to balance equity
and autonomy. A centralised system is often viewed to be
more equitable at the expense of autonomy.

16. Shifting Balance
The delivery focus moves beyond activities, people and organisations
to focus on driving system and social change. This requires increased
collaboration between public, private and social sectors.

17. Measuring Good
Despite the cost of collecting data, feedback from beneficiaries
plays an increasing role in measuring success particularly
when other outcomes are hard to measure.

18. Conflicting Motivation
Increasing competition for limited funding, duplication of effort,
mistrust and poor collaboration combine to reduce the impact of
social organisations and leave the vulnerable to suffer.

19. Fuzzy Boundaries
Social enterprises and community interest initiatives reduce the gap
between the private and social sectors and provide greater
opportunities to do good and create social value.

20. The Third Space for Data
By 2025, a new place for data emerges - between public and private. This is
driven by "data philanthropy" and the donation of data for social purposes such
as healthcare and improving our ability to respond to disasters.

21. Double Counting
There is a growth in structured volunteering which helps individuals
develop new skills and relationships while also making a difference
in their community and in broader society.

22. Organised Growth
Charity CEOs cease to be measured against organisational growth and instead
focus on delivering outcomes that permanently address their original target.
In so doing they set a timetable for their own relevance.

23. Devolution of Government
Local government provides a better locus for organisations trying to influence
place-based strategies and cross sector ways of working, and also helps to
generate funding directly from the communities they are looking to serve.

24. Breaking Good
Those who grew up with social media redefine charitable giving and
force transparency through relentless research, ruthless focus
and a fundamental belief in multiple community engagement.

25. Nudge too Far
Nudge policies are popular with governments and can positively impact
behaviour. Some see these as a push too far, removing any remaining
sense of agency from those already disenfranchised and on the fringes.

26. Millennial Induced Collaboration
Collaboration for social impact becomes the norm as companies shift
their emphasis to maintain attractive to demanding millennial customers
and employees. NfPs no longer have the monopoly of doing good.

27. Reigniting Passion
The social sector distances itself from the implementation of government
policies and re-establishes action through principle and values. Passion
for positive change reignites proactive community involvement.

28. Imaginative Alliances
In order to instigate positive change new alliances are formed between
multiple organisations all prepared to share resources, creativity and
intelligence. Increasingly the social sector choreographs this process.

29. Fragmented Giving
Funding models change as donors focus on short term projects rather
than long term funding. Some services suffer as their appeal fails to
catch the millennial zeitgeist.

30. Inequality Chasm
Extreme social inequality combined with the increasing use of technology to
deliver services numbs public understanding, dehumanising the needy and
making it harder for NfPs and NGOs to attract funding and support.

31. End of Charity
The 20th century donative charity model reaches its limit. Models
emerge that are more nimble, more commercial, more collaborative,
more empowering, more temporal for good.

32. Stratified Care
In response to longer lives with chronic diseases, we see more ‘stratified care’ -
providing acute services to those with greatest need, and enabling others with
information and tools to self-manage at home and in the community.

33. Future Agenda
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