Philanthropy in the Age of Influence: Can Purpose Survive Performance?
This reflection explores how philanthropy is being reshaped by the age of influence, where visibility is currency and social good is increasingly measured through impressions, likes, and shareability. While digital platforms have helped amplify voices, mobilise support, and allow civil society to tell its own stories, the piece warns of a growing pressure to perform purpose, where impact can start to look better than it feels. CivSource South Africa invites readers to take the mirror test, asking hard questions about integrity, accountability, and whether visibility is deepening purpose or replacing it, reminding us that transformation cannot be posted, it must be lived.