The basis for much of my talk is work that we have been doing at IS over the past year as part of a strategic planning process that will lead to a new strategic direction for the organization starting next year. I. Growing Size and Influence First, the size, importance and influence of the sector has grown tremendously. The growth in foundation assets is booming, both as a result of the stock market performance and of the entry of new billionaires into the foundation world. However, individual giving is not keeping pace and civic disengagement is growing. At the same time, there is still tremendous diversity within the nonprofit world.
Most nonprofits are small, depend heavily on volunteers, and are struggling to make ends meet.
There is, however, great concentration of wealth in the nonprofit world, just as there is the rest of the world. In terms of influence, we see this most clearly at the global level. Nonprofits grabbed world headlines with their actions in Seattle protesting global trade talks. In addition, the Clinton Administration has made support for the non-itemizer deduction part of its policy agenda for 2000. This growth in size and influence leads directly to the second trend I want to discuss, the demand for accountability.