^{Image: Depiction of an O’Neill cylinder’s interior by artist Rick Guidice}

Dispatches from the Future of Museums is now in its new home—on the web!

Dispatches shares summaries of recent news stories illuminating trends and events shaping society, technology, economics, the environment, and policy today. Fuel your museum’s strategic foresight by thinking about the implications of these “signals,” and the kinds of future they might create.

As of January 2026, roundups for Dispatches that contain these news summaries are only updated on this page and no longer delivered as a dedicated newsletter. As part of this shift, existing Dispatches subscribers were transitioned to a receiving a single new weekly newsletter from AAM.

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Dispatches: Week of January 5

Catch CFM’s latest blog post

CFM director Elizabeth Merritt shares projections for 2026: inflation, tourism, government funding, shifting philanthropy, and more.

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Will AI soon be reviewing your grant applications?

From Candid, 11-20-2025. [Projections]

In the 2025 Foundation Giving Forecast Survey, Candid asked whether foundations currently use “generative AI to screen applicants or help make decisions about whom to fund” and whether they anticipate using “generative AI to screen applicants or help make decisions about whom to fund in the next few years.” In response to the question about whether they were currently using generative AI to screen grant applicants or help decide whom to fund, 97% said “no,” 1% said “yes,” and 2% didn’t know. When asked whether they expected to use generative AI for those purposes in the near future, however, a much smaller majority of 65% indicated they were not planning to do so. Nearly one-fifth (19%) were considering the possibility of using AI tools to screen applications or help decide whom to fund, another 3% indicated they expected to do so, and the remaining 12% were not certain. This suggests that as many as one-third of respondents have not yet ruled out using generative AI as part of their grant decision-making processes in the near future.

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Australia is banning young teens from social media. Could it happen in the US?

From CNN, 12-09-2025 [Projections]

A world-first ban on major social media platforms for children under the age of 16 goes into effect in Australia on Wednesday. And regulators, parents and teenagers around the globe are watching closely to see how it plays out. The law comes after years of concerns that social media platforms can cause addiction, body image issues, depression and other mental health issues for teens, as well as potentially exposing them to bullying or sexual exploitation. Still, Denmark and Malaysia are similarly planning to ban young teens from social media. In the United States, some lawmakers and political leaders have also advocated for more restrictive policies. While none go as far as Australia’s ban, a growing number of US states have passed restrictions on teens’ access to social media or other internet services. Still, a federal policy in the United States seems unlikely, given Congress’ inability to agree on and pass other social media and youth safety-related legislation.

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2025 National Study of Philanthropic Practice

From Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), December, 2025. [Research; Trends]

Since 2008, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations has conducted a national study of philanthropic practice every three to five years to assess progress toward achieving this transformational change across the sector. Highlights from the 2025 field study include: Most grantmakers maintain that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is central to their organization’s current strategy [more so than in 2017]; the 5 percent payout is no longer the floor–more than half of surveyed organizations spend above this threshold; Forty-two percent of respondents reported engaging in participatory grantmaking; multi-year fundraising in gaining momentum, and flexible spending is catching on. [However, the report found that] evaluation requirements are outpacing support and further action is needed to align equity-centered values with practice.

Go deeper: The Trust Based Philanthropy Project promotes many of the practices documented in this research, notably increased payouts and flexible funding. On their site, you can access a list of funders that have pledged to abide by these and other progressive philanthropic principles. 

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As FEMA Falters, Philanthropy Is Forced to Step Up

Chronicle of Philanthropy, 12-4-25 [Research; Trends]

With so many areas of government undergoing radical change so quickly and publicly funded support systems becoming less reliable, philanthropy is increasingly stepping into roles once dominated by government. That shift has been especially swift and pronounced among those supporting the response to disasters. In recent months, FEMA slowed disaster declarations, delayed reimbursements to states, and halted major mitigation programs like the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and the Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant program, which many states rely on to prepare for extreme weather. The Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s new State of Disaster Philanthropy report provides a baseline for understanding how funders are adapting to this growing uncertainty. While overall disaster giving dipped from 2022, support for mitigation, resilience, and risk reduction, though a small portion of overall disaster giving, tripled year over year. The shift suggests more donors are reconsidering their role in disasters — shifting their attention not only to response but also to preparation and favoring long-term, community-driven strategies that match their priorities and capacity to give.

Museums might: help their communities proactively identify foundations and individual donors that are willing to make commitments regarding disaster relief.

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