Trust-Based Blog
Reimagining philanthropy begins with learning out loud.
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.
Confessions of a Former Nonprofit ED
Trust-Based Philanthropy Project Director Shaady Salehi reflects on her experience as a first-time executive director, the challenges and power dynamics she faced, and what motivates her to be a part of the growing advocacy movement to make trust-based practices the norm.
Invitation Only: Closing the Door to Equity?
After more than 20 years of grantmaking in Los Angeles County, you’d think the Durfee Foundation would know all of the eligible nonprofits in the region. But as Claire Peeps, Executive Director of Durfee, reflects - that’s not the case. Claire writes, “Even with our lean staffing, we think it’s increasingly important to keep the door open, so let me share with you why and how we do it.”
6 Components of a Trust-Based Relationship
There are as many ways to enter into trust-based philanthropy as there are reasons funders are embracing this approach. Pia Infante, co-executive director of The Whitman Institute, reflects on the stages of this approach, and the one element that stands at the center of all the trust-based principles: developing and nurturing relationships of mutual trust and partnership, including accounting for and actively reimagining power dynamics.
A Pop Princess Helped My Foundation Articulate Our Values
Weissberg Foundation’s executive director Hanh Le was tasked with helping the board reflect on and define the organization’s core values. Naturally, she brought in Katy Perry. Le reflects on using a “third object” to spark reflective thinking about big, shared goals. “Why did this work so well? I think the introduction of a song disrupted our usual patterns of communication.”
True Philanthropy is More Than Money Delivered Fast
In this post, Brenda Solorzano, CEO of the Headwaters Foundation, gives context and analysis to Jeff Bezos’ fast-moving, red-tape cutting philanthropy. One thing that’s missing: a commitment to power sharing and collaboration. Without those, Bezos runs the risk of being as challenging as the traditional philanthropic models he’s attempting to combat.
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.”
Exploring the Principles: Solicit & Act on Feedback
Many nonprofit leaders are focus-grouped and surveyed and interviewed into oblivion, and never hear what comes of their ideas. Lisa Cowan, Vice President at the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, shares an experience she had with grantees that drove home for just how important it is to both solicit and act on feedback.
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.”
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.
Exploring the Principles: Simplify & Streamline Paperwork
What happens when foundations accept proposals written for other funders? They get everything they need, it turns out. Lisa Cowan reflects on the practice at the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, where she serves as Vice President.
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.
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.
Making Values Work For Teams
In building Headwaters Foundation from the ground up, Brenda Solorzano led with the premise that values should shape strategy. “It’s so easy to check values off the to-do list and forget that they can be used to remind us about how we want to work together as well as what we do. Rather than thinking about a values statement as a problem to solve and move on, I make it about intentionality around the culture we are trying to build.”
How Headwaters' Streamlined GO! Grants Help Build Relationships (Without Overburdening Grantees)
Brenda Solorzano has led the Headwaters Foundation in Missoula, Montana with a commitment to trust-based philanthropy since its inception in 2018. This commitment has led to a number of innovations – including GO! Grants that are designed to put grant funds in the hands of grantees in less than a month – as well as some informative lessons.
What Satterberg Is Learning After Shifting To Multi-Year Unrestricted Grants
Several years ago, The Satterberg Foundation’s leadership decided to transform its grantmaking processes in an effort to build greater transparency and better alignment with their core values, including a shift to multi-year, unrestricted grants. Hear more from Executive Director, Sarah Walczyk.
Thousand Currents' Proactive Approach to Shifting Power Dynamics
Thousand Currents’ funding model is inherently trust-based, with an approach rooted in trusting the expertise of the leaders in the communities they serve. Executive Director Solomé Lemma shares her thoughts about how trust-based philanthropy enables them to advance their goals for social transformation.
How Durfee's Commitment to Support Beyond the Check Is Paying Off
The Durfee Foundation’s approach is almost hard-wired to be trust-based. President Carrie Avery reflects that “the trust-based part comes into play because we trust (nonprofit) leaders to forge their own path and do what they need to get at the root of their questions.” Learn more about how Durfee supports grantee partners to think expansively about their work.
How General Service Foundation's Radical Shifts Are Sparking Greater Efficiency and Learning
When Dimple Abichandani stepped in as Executive Director of the General Service Foundation, she noticed a gap between the social justice foundation’s grantmaking processes and the type of relationship they had with their grantees. Soon after, she and the GSF staff started making changes to their practices in order to fully embody trust-based processes.
Robert Sterling Clark Foundation's Fresh Take on Paperwork Processes and Relationship-Building
Since 2016, Phil Li of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation has taken dramatic steps toward embodying trust-based philanthropy, including getting rid of lengthy reporting requirements and shifting toward multi-year unrestricted support.