A new edition of Philanthropy and the Social Economy: Blueprint 2014, the much anticipated annual forecast for the industry of philanthropy by Lucy Bernholz, has been released. This year, for the first time, the Blueprint includes the European context in addition to the American landscape and explains the shifts that come as civil society is manifested in digital environments, including opportunities to establish a new standard of trust regarding how private data are used for public benefit. As data become more and more a part of our everyday lives, ethical challenges facing philanthropic enterprises of all types emerge.

The Blueprint is published by GrantCraft, a joint service of the New York-based Foundation Center and Brussels-based European Foundation Centre that taps the practical wisdom of funders to develop resources for the philanthropy sector. In addition to philanthropists, the Blueprint is a strategic resource for anyone using private resources for public benefit, including social business leaders, nonprofit and association executives, individual activists and policymakers.

In this year’s report, Bernholz presents her observations of European philanthropy, discusses how digital civil society can potentially change the root structures of the social economy, makes predictions for 2014 (and revisits those she made for 2013), and considers the reach of the “civic technology” efforts of governments and technologists to engage citizens.

A highlight of each year’s Blueprint is a list of emerging philanthropy-related buzzwords (“privacy” ranks number one this time around). The Blueprint also lists wildcard world events – unanticipated legislation, scandals or disasters – that have the potential to mitigate or accelerate the timing of big shifts in the social economy. One of Bernholz’s predictions for 2014 is that a major crowdfunding scandal will draw scrupulous attention to online fundraising platforms.

In her career as a consultant, writer and blogger, Bernholz has established herself as an incisive authority in the complex arena of data and philanthropy. The Huffington Post calls Bernholz a “philanthropy game changer,” Fast Company magazine named her Philanthropy2173 blog “Best in Class,” and she has been named to The Nonprofit Times‘ annual list of 50 most influential people. Throughout 2014, Bernholz will continue to investigate and cultivate conversations around the ideas in Blueprint at the GrantCraft blog and on Philanthropy2173.

Philanthropy and the Social Economy: Blueprint 2014 is available for download at www.grantcraft.org/blueprint2014.