Eight Philanthropy Trends Reshaping Power in Latin America and the Caribbean

Philanthropy in Latin America and the Caribbean is undergoing significant shifts in funding sources, in leadership, and in how power is exercised across the sector. Understanding these changes is becoming essential for organisations seeking to act responsibly and effectively in the region.

Our upcoming report, Philanthropy Trends in Latin America and the Caribbean 2025, explores how these dynamics are already playing out. Drawing on regional experience rather than prediction, it examines the implications of current trends for power, sustainability and decision-making in philanthropy.

Developed through a year-long collaborative process led by the WINGS Latin America and Caribbean Working Group, the report reflects the perspectives of more than 50 member organisations across 11 countries. Together, they identified eight trends shaping the philanthropic landscape today — highlighting both emerging opportunities and critical risks.

The result is not a set of predictions or a reassuring catalogue of progress. It is a map of a region at a crossroads – highlighting new possibilities already taking shape, alongside risks that could deepen inequalities if left unexamined.

Below is a preview of the eight trends explored in the report, illustrating how philanthropic practice, power and priorities are shifting across the region:

1. Funding sources are being reshuffled: International cooperation is no longer the main anchor for civil society. Organisations are navigating a more fragmented mix of private philanthropy, individual giving and community resources to sustain their work, forcing them to rethink sustainability, partnerships and financial resilience. 
2. Community foundations are gaining ground: Territorial and community foundations are expanding across the region, connecting local donors, organisations and communities. Their strength lies in proximity, trust and long-term commitment to place, offering an alternative to centralised and short-term funding models. 
3. Corporate foundations are redefining their role: More corporate foundations are asking themselves whether they should fund others, implement their own programmes or do both. Hybrid models are on the rise, bringing new opportunities but also tensions around power, visibility and the role of civil society organisations.
4. Climate philanthropy is moving toward justice: Environmental funding is expanding from conservation alone to climate justice. Philanthropy is increasingly supporting Indigenous, feminist and territorial approaches that link climate action with rights, inequality and democratic participation.
5. Intersectionality and diversity reshaping philanthropy: Intersectional approaches rooted in feminist and community movements are influencing how philanthropy understands inequality. Care, well-being, trust and autonomy are becoming central to funding strategies and definitions of impact.
6. Mobility and migration demand new responses: Human mobility is no longer addressed solely through emergency aid. Philanthropy is supporting long-term, rights-based and community-led approaches that recognise migrants and displaced people as leaders, not just beneficiaries. 
7. Innovative finance is gaining attention: Impact investing, blended finance and catalytic capital are entering the philanthropic conversations. These mechanisms offer opportunities for scaling solutions, while raising questions about their regulation, risk and alignment with social justice goals. 
8. Individual giving is evolving: Digital platforms, crowdfunding and informal giving are growing, especially among younger generations. Earning trust through openness and clear communication is becoming decisive in whether people choose to give and continue giving.

Taken together, these trends raise urgent questions for philanthropic organisations working in or with Latin America and the Caribbean: how decisions are being made, whose voices are shaping priorities and what forms of power are being reinforced, or challenged, through funding. Engaging with these questions is increasingly central to responsible and effective philanthropy in the region.

What emerges across these eight trends is not a single path forward, but a series of choices about power in philanthropy, playing out differently across contexts and actors. Today, the familiar call to ‘shift the power’ is already in the rearview mirror – not as a destination but as a starting point. The critical questions now confront us directly: shift power to whom, through what mechanisms and under what conditions? What trade-offs are we willing to make? And what happens if we don’t act?

These trends are not a verdict on the future of philanthropy in Latin America and the Caribbean. They are a lens; illuminating possibilities, revealing risks and exposing tensions that demand attention. The future of philanthropy in the region is being actively shaped by the choices organisations make, or fail to make, today.

This upcoming report is intended as a tool for reflection, dialogue and action across the philanthropic ecosystem. We invite funders, practitioners and philanthropy support organisations to engage with the findings and use them to inform their own strategies, partnerships, and conversations.