Trust-Based Blog

Reimagining philanthropy begins with learning out loud.

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By sharing ideas, with curiosity and humility, the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project blog features trust-based grantmakers who talk about their own lessons, questions, and aha-moments along their power-sharing journeys.

 
Exploring the Principles: Give Multiyear, Unrestricted Funding
Multi-Year Unrestricted Lisa Cowan Multi-Year Unrestricted Lisa Cowan

Exploring the Principles: Give Multiyear, Unrestricted Funding

Lisa Cowan, Vice President of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, has a reminder for funders (including herself): “As funders, we must recognize that we are not experts at running the organizations we fund… When i give a grant, I gratefully part with the foundations’ dollars, to make sure that those funds go to someone who knows more than I do.”

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Exploring the Principles: Be Transparent & Responsive
Be Transparent Philip Li Be Transparent Philip Li

Exploring the Principles: Be Transparent & Responsive

Phil Li reflects on his own surprise at his role as President and CEO of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, a feeling Lisa Cowan, Vice President, shares. “In some ways, we are naïve about the inherent power dynamic that lies between funders and grantees. Both Lisa and I used to be heads of nonprofits, and we sometimes forget that we are ‘The Funder’ and not just Lisa and Phil.”

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Exploring the Principles: Offer Support Beyond the Check
Support Beyond the Check Lisa Cowan Support Beyond the Check Lisa Cowan

Exploring the Principles: Offer Support Beyond the Check

Lisa Cowan, Vice President at the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, reflects on a two-day funder-grantee retreat aimed at getting to know each other, building trust, and learning about each other’s work. In this blog post, she shares what can come out of such “beyond the check” experiences, and considers what else could be done differently.

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Exploring the Principles: Do the Homework
Do the Homework Philip Li Do the Homework Philip Li

Exploring the Principles: Do the Homework

As one of the six pillars of Trust-Based Philanthropy, “Do the homework” is a reminder that the onus is on foundations to understand nonprofit organizations, and seek to understand how they might fit the foundation’s interests. Phil Li, President and CEO of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, reflects on that responsibility, and opportunity.

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It's a Matter of Trust
Philip Li Philip Li

It's a Matter of Trust

Trust-Based Philanthropy is not a new concept, but naming it has power. Phil Li, President & CEO of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation reflects on how naming the practice helped the foundation and like-minded funders recognize shared approaches to grantmaking, and to identify some principles around those approaches.

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