September 05, 2023 “We Follow Their Lead.” How Residents Guide the Black Belt Community Foundation’s Grantmaking September 05, 2023/ Mike Scutari Serving a 12-county region in southern Alabama, the Black Belt Community Foundation relies on community volunteers to guide its discretionary grantmaking. President Felecia Lucky walks us through how that works.Read More
July 26, 2023 Sitting on the Beach or Hiding From the Heat, These Climate Reports Are Essential Summer Reading July 26, 2023/ Michael Kavate The scorching temperatures have made summer leisure a little harder on all of us, but if you’re looking for some light reading and want to support climate action, this is the list for you.Read More
June 13, 2023 Magic Cabinet: A Matchmaking Participatory Grantmaker Helps Teams of Grantees Build Capacity June 13, 2023/ Wendy Paris This Bay Area and Pacific Northwest funder has a unique take on participatory grantmaking, inviting small cohorts of grantees to share flexible, capacity-building funds. Magic Cabinet’s leadership explains how it works.Read More
June 01, 2023 Can Philanthropy Ever Truly Be Democratized? Here Are Three Things Standing in the Way June 01, 2023/ Philip Rojc There’s been a lot of talk, and some action, around making the sector more egalitarian. But are we all kidding ourselves? Here are some inconvenient truths standing in the way of philanthropic democratization.Read More
May 01, 2023 IP Explainer: Who Should Decide What Gets Funded? May 01, 2023/ IP Staff Philanthropy is difficult to navigate. That’s why we’ve produced a series of explainers to demystify the basics. Today, we go over a key debate happening in the sector: Who should be making funding decisions?Read More
April 28, 2023 Collaborative Green Movement Funding Initiative Grows, Looks to Harness Federal Climate Investment April 28, 2023/ Michael Kavate The green movement funder Mosaic has been pulling in partners and expanding its influence. With major new federal climate funding in the mix, it’s showing the potential of intermediaries and participatory methods.Read More
April 27, 2023 The Radically Democratic Philanthropy of the FRIDA Young Feminist Fund April 27, 2023/ Dawn Wolfe Founded in 2008, FRIDA is a collaborative of young feminists, funding young feminists around the world. It’s also been an early adopter of participatory grantmaking and other power-shifting grantmaking practices. Read More
April 11, 2023 Inside This Abortion Care Backer’s Move to an “Anti-Colonialist” Decision-Making Model April 11, 2023/ Dawn Wolfe As it seeks to expand abortion and contraception access, Ipas is making major changes to its organizational model, in part to bolster a global abortion ecosystem it sees as limited by top-down funding.Read More
February 07, 2023 “Community Knows What Community Needs.” Inside CZI’s Participatory Grantmaking Program February 07, 2023/ Mike Scutari The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative just wrapped up its second year of grantmaking led in part by community members. CZI’s Curtis Yancy explains the program’s mechanics, lessons learned and what’s next.Read More
January 18, 2023 How Both ENDS Director Danielle Hirsch Is Using Philanthropy, Advocacy and More to Shift Power January 18, 2023/ Mandy Van Deven Both ENDS is a Netherlands-based organization that is challenging power dynamics in philanthropy in a number of ways. Director Danielle Hirsch talks about the group’s journey, its approach and why discomfort is a good thing.Read More
September 29, 2022 What Does it Look Like to Truly Shift Power in Philanthropy? Here Are 3 Real World Examples September 29, 2022/ Deb Nelson, Guest Contributor Deb Nelson of the Just Economy Institute recounts cases in which overturning funding models made a profound impact. In all of them, collaboration between people of different races, classes and generations were key.Read More
September 22, 2022 A Major Funder Is Overhauling How it Backs Local Arts Groups. What Will That Mean for Grantees? September 22, 2022/ Mike Scutari Part of an ongoing effort to be more equitable, MacArthur is transitioning to a participatory regranting partnership to support Chicago’s small to midsized arts organizations. How will grantees be impacted? Read More
September 12, 2022 How the Brooklyn Community Foundation Brings Grantmaking to the People September 12, 2022/ Wendy Paris Interest in participatory grantmaking has grown over time, but few have embraced it like the Brooklyn Community Foundation. Here’s a look at how BCF centers community decision-makers in its elder funding and elsewhere.Read More
August 02, 2022 Imagining a World Where Philanthropy Is Obsolete: Conversations on the Future of the Sector August 02, 2022/ Mandy Van Deven How does philanthropy need to change to meet the moment? How can funders envision a better future? These questions and more were the subject of a recent conference challenging the status quo of finance and giving. Read More
April 12, 2022 Seven Questions with Helen Mountford, President and CEO of ClimateWorks Foundation April 12, 2022/ Michael Kavate The international climate intermediary fund has a new leader who envisions some “shifts and accelerations” for the grantmaker. We spoke with her about those plans and more.Read More
March 08, 2022 What Happens When Environmental Movement Leaders Make Funding Decisions? March 08, 2022/ Michael Kavate One year in, participatory grantmaking project Mosaic offers insights into what it looks like when environmental groups direct funding. Leaders point to powerful collaborative projects and new movement infrastructure.Read More
January 27, 2022 Should Philanthropic Advisors Have a Version of Fiduciary Duty to Donors? January 27, 2022/ Michael E. Hartmann, Guest Contributor Investment advisors are ethically and legally required to place clients’ interests ahead of their own. Michael E. Hartmann of the Center for Strategic Giving asks whether philanthropic staff and advisors should have a similar duty.Read More
January 20, 2022 Answering the Call: One Foundation’s Approach to Shifting Power and Funding Racial Justice January 20, 2022/ Hanna Mahon and Luke Newton, Guest Contributors Since 2020, philanthropy has had to reckon with historic uprisings demanding racial justice. In this guest opinion, the Pink House Foundation’s leadership share how they responded, including handing over decision-making power.Read More
November 23, 2021 Seeking Better Ways to Give, an Arts Funder Asked Grantees to Award Funding to Their Peers November 23, 2021/ Mike Scutari New York City-based Art Matters piloted a program in which previous grant recipients acted as grantmakers. Director Abbey Williams explains why it was needed and what other funders can learn from their experience.Read More
October 27, 2021 Three Lessons for Funders Exploring Participatory Decision-Making October 27, 2021/ Sunanna Chand and Miho Kubagawa, Guest Contributors The Reinvention Lab and NewSchools Venture Fund piloted a program earlier this year to test what happens when funding decisions are made by people from the communities they serve. Leaders report back on their findings. Read More