A typology of philanthropy that highlights the risks of the prevalent monoculture that focuses on “getting to scale” by influencing state policy. The counter examples of philanthropy that takes a stand, builds power or elevates values are particularly compelling. #philanthropy @ssir.org

What Else Can We Do? The Thirteen Intentions of Philanthropy (SSIR)

A year of turbulence has exposed the dangers of philanthropic monocultures and upended assumptions about impact, effectiveness, and scale. Embracing the varied intentions that motivate people to give ...

ssir.org

Futural anomie: maybe the inability to imagine a common future isn’t a failure of imagination, but a collapse of the conditions that make imagining a common future possible. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

The UK is not a climate-sceptic country; it is a country of climate-concerned people who think they are surrounded by climate sceptics. The challenge is not persuasion. It is confidence.

Daryll Neita and @alexisohanian.bsky.social at #sxswlondon on the compelling case for investing in women’s athletics. The audience, attention, talent and momentum is there. The sponsors are coming and importantly, AI can’t replace it. The potential of sport as a platform for impact is huge.

Congrats Turi on “Why we think what we think”. Humane, thoughtful, optimistic, a little bit strange. The book is too.

A Theory of Change should be a live hypothesis that shapes how you plan, deliver and learn. Not a document you produce once and forget. www.firetail.co.uk/news/after-toc

Making your Theory of Change mean something — Firetail

A Theory of Change is not a one-time exercise. It should be live, relevant and useful to your organisation.  A live Theory of Change helps leaders decide where to focus, what to stop doing, whic...

firetail.co.uk

The best keep secret in social impact? www.firetail.co.uk/news/sportfo...

Changing things up at @firetail.bsky.social www.firetail.co.uk/news/leaders...

Leadership transition at Firetail — Firetail

We are delighted to announce that Ben Randall has been appointed as CEO of Firetail, with Andy Martin stepping into the role of Executive Chair,

firetail.co.uk

One of the most interesting thought experiments I’ve read recently, arguing a positive future needs doers as well as narrators, and (that China especially) needs a "machinery of care" alongside the production of abundance. Curious what others make of it. thecuttingfloor.substack.com/p/the-republ...

The Republic of Letters: Divergent Crossings

Narrators vs. Doers

thecuttingfloor.substack.com

Sport can be a platform for extraordinary social impact. Why? Because it’s about identity, community and belonging. Here’s Andy talking to Frances Milner, CEO of The Leeds United Foundation, about the power of purpose in sport.

More than a Game: Lessons from Leeds United on the Power of Purpose — Firetail

Sport is huge—and it’s only getting bigger. But beyond goals and glory, something more interesting is happening: clubs, athletes and leagues are realising the commercial and social power of purpose…

firetail.co.uk

Excellent from Martha Lane Fox: "We cling to a model that makes public life feel like a punishing, precarious calling that only a few can endure." martha6j5h2.substack.com/p/this-is-pu...

This is public life in 2025, who would volunteer?

Why the BBC crisis is not just a reflection of some bad editorial decisions and why it matters

martha6j5h2.substack.com

There is still time to register for Thursday's webinar with Frances Milner, CEO of the The Leeds United Foundation: lnkd.in/ekntM_kn The session will cover the foundation's new strategy, advice for how to engage owners and different audiences, and the role of purpose in a changing sport landscape.

LinkedIn

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lnkd.in

Sport can be a force for social progress and purpose, and when treated as a strategic asset, can create impact and commercial value. Register for our next webinar to hear Frances Milner, CEO of the The Leeds United Foundation, share insights on their approach to social impact: buff.ly/aSoEofM

In the 1970s, the French government ran this ad: “we don’t have petrol, but we have ideas” Today, French electricity generation is 72% nuclear, 21% renewables and 7% fossil fuels. They are the largest net exporter of electricity in the world. m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk0z...

SPOT TV gouvernement économies d'énergie : "en France, on n'a pas de pétrole, mais on a des idées"

SPOT TV gouvernement économies d'énergie : "en France, on n'a pas de pétrole, mais on a des idées"

m.youtube.com

"Resilience won’t come from fixing yesterday’s problems. It will come from perceiving tomorrow’s patterns." A lot of “innovation” work forgets you can’t build for the future if you ignore the present. A smart call to stop designing the future like it’s 2010. medium.com/@paulagilb/w...

We Are Designing for Futures That No Longer Exist

If you have been paying attention, five reports should have made it to the top of your reading pile: The UN Global Risks Report; The World…

medium.com

If you work in sport or partner with sporting organisations, do join me for our next webinar with the wonderful Frances Milner from the Leeds United Foundation.

Firetail@firetail.bsky.social · last yr.

Sport can be a force for social progress and purpose, and when treated as a strategic asset, can create impact and commercial value. Register for our next webinar to hear Frances Milner, CEO of the The Leeds United Foundation, share insights on their approach to social impact: buff.ly/aSoEofM

Sport can be a force for social progress and purpose, and when treated as a strategic asset, can create impact and commercial value. Register for our next webinar to hear Frances Milner, CEO of the The Leeds United Foundation, share insights on their approach to social impact: buff.ly/aSoEofM

Firetail Webinar: 25 Sep @ 12:00 Join us to hear two incredible speakers - Giulio Quaggiotto (gquaggiotto.bsky.social) and Ben Holt - share their experience of building futures and innovation capacity across government, NGOs and civil society. Register here: www.firetail.co.uk/webinars

We're starting our webinars again! The first webinar in our next series is taking place on Thursday 25th September, register here: www.firetail.co.uk/webinars

MIT study: "Despite $30–40 billion in enterprise investment into GenAI ... 95% of organizations are getting zero return. ..these tools primarily enhance individual productivity, not P&L performance.... ...enterprise-grade systems are being quietly rejected." web.archive.org/web/20250818...

We love working with partners who bring specialist sector expertise and fresh perspectives. Hear from three of our partners: Francine Bennett, Stephen Hilton, and John Hitchin as they discuss the problems they are trying to solve, and how they think about working with Firetail.

A spotlight on our partners — Firetail

We work a lot with partners. As well as bringing specialist sector skills and knowledge, they offer us fresh perspectives to any given project. More importantly, we love working with them and share…

firetail.co.uk

The best Harvard Business review article I've ever seen? Side-by-side test of a 'good' strategy visualisation slide vs a 'bad' one of the same strategy. Both still pretty basic design most people could pull off in G-Slides. By João Cotter Salvado and Freek Vermeulen. via @firetail.bsky.social

The government's "Chronic Risks" report is a very good summary of the threats facing the UK. In practice, it's not clear how foresight work like this informs policy. And it's striking how many risks are mitigated by deploying lots of solar, as quickly as possible. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Chronic risks analysis

The Chronic risks analysis outlines the most critical medium to long term challenges facing the United Kingdom.

gov.uk

Campaigns to use philanthropy to pay off national debt were tied up in the politics of the time (covered in this excellent short paper by @johnpicton.bsky.social) In 1919, before the treaty of Versailles, Baldwin bought and cancelled £150k of war loans. pure.manchester.ac.uk/ws/portalfil...

A low-key end to one of the most idiosyncratic acts of philanthropy in history. www.ft.com/content/ed1a...

Treasury gains £500mn to pay off UK debt from Barings banker’s 1927 fund

Windfall in form of ‘patriotic gift’ comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves strives to balance the books

ft.com

Lots of good ideas in this @nicolascolin.bsky.social essay: "The evidence suggests we're shifting from a time when strong execution could mask weak strategy to one where defensibility and strategic clarity are prerequisites for survival." substack.com/home/post/p-...

Late-Cycle Investment Theory

The foundation for the coming decade

substack.com

In one of our futures reports, we suggested “social security for dogs” as a wildcard, to explore shifting norms around animal welfare. It was seen as an outlandish edge case. The world changes in unexpected ways. The margins become mainstream, sooner than we expect. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

'My retired hero police dog deserves a pension'

Owners argue police forces should pay a contribution towards their former dogs' vet bills.

bbc.co.uk

In our recent webinar, we explored how innovation funds can be used to drive charitable impact. This Firetail article from last year explores the broader challenge of how charities' income portfolios fundamentally shape their strategies and cultures.

"Such as We Are Made of, Such We Be”: How income portfolios shape strategy — Firetail

All charities need to get their money from somewhere. That money comes with trade-offs. The type of money you raise does not just shape your fundraising, it shapes your whole organisation. …

firetail.co.uk

We are pleased to share that Anttoni Huiskonen has been promoted to Consultant! Over the last few years, Anttoni has supported and led on projects ranging from climate policy to working with his beloved Leeds United Foundation. Congratulations Anttoni!

"Strategy is about choices. Boards can’t hand down strategies on stone tablets for execution by staff. There needs to be a dialogue." Charity law does not offer guidance on how trustee boards and their executives should work together to set strategy. This Firetail blog does.

Whose strategy is it anyway? — Firetail

Whose strategy is it anyway? Under UK charity law, trustee boards are responsible for effective delivery of a charity’s objectives. They set a charity's strategic direction and ensure legal…

firetail.co.uk