Trust-based philanthropy is an overarching theme in many of the breakout sessions at the 2022 Grantmakers for Effective Organizations National Conference, which will take place May 16-18, 2022, in Chicago, IL, with some content available virtually. Below are several of the breakouts that will delve into the nuances of this approach, led by funders championing trust-based philanthropy across the sector.
MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022
2:30-3:45 PM CT
1. Enough with the F*!$ing Metrics! Let’s Learn about Impact in Ways that Build Trust
Trust-based philanthropy has changed the way foundations do their work and shift power to grantees to determine how to best deploy grant funds. And while there is growing interest in TBP grantmaking practices, foundations are bumping up against existing evaluation systems and structures where the foundation defines success, and time and resources are spent on metrics and ROI instead of learning and trust building. The Headwaters Foundation in Montana is a trust-based funder, and they’ve recently designed an evaluation system that actively supports TBP. To do so required reflection on and questioning of existing evaluation artifacts (e.g., grants management software), mental models (what counts as data?), and evaluation paradigms (how can you really know?).
If you’re a funder that’s committed to equity, being community-led, sharing power and/or have officially adopted TBP, please join this session to learn more about how your evaluation practices can shift to support these approaches.
Speakers: Erin Switalski, Headwaters Foundation; Jason Smith, Montana Consortium for Urban Indian Health; Aditi Luminet
2. Sharing Sugar: The Success and Failure of Sharing Resources
In 2016, the T. Rowe Price Foundation led a series of simulations with community-based organizations on various behaviors around sharing resources. In partnership with community-based organizations, they explored ways organizations could come together around a specific challenge, pool resources and work toward creating sustainability over the long-term, or how they could “share sugar” to meet the needs of the community. The initiative had some success and a great deal of failure, highlighting the challenges of collaboration in the nonprofit sector, including a leading role of philanthropy in exacerbating the challenges. This session will review the methodology and results of how the T. Rowe Price Foundation created the Partnership Fund. It will also highlight the failures and how those failures illustrate the challenges of collaboration in the sector. You will hear from members of the Black Legacy Collective, a coalition of three Black-led youth mentoring organizations serving the “BlackButterfly” communities in Baltimore, about their experience in the Partnership Fund.
Speakers: John Brothers, T. Rowe Price Foundation, Inc.; Brittany Young, B-360; Darren Rodgers; I am MENtality; Tonee Lawson, The Be. Org
3. Shifting from “Grantees” to “Partners:” Achieving Greater Impact through Relationships
Philanthropy is undergoing a transformation. We recognize that the traditional model, grounded in charity, not only fails to alleviate the societal challenges we need to tackle, but further exacerbates existing inequities and power dynamics by drawing sharp lines between givers and receivers, haves and have nots, appraisers and the appraised. What if we can achieve greater impact by removing those lines and shifting grantor-grantee relationships into true partnerships? True partnerships begin with real relationships centered on trust, and that requires us as funders to reorient ourselves, to be grounded in connectedness and consciousness. Join this session to discuss what this looks like in practice and the lessons and pitfalls along the way, especially from the perspective of nonprofit community organizations. You will leave with tangible strategies for what you can do to restore the love of humanity in your own practice for greater impact.
Speakers: Eva Liu, Chicago Beyond; Asiaha Butler, Resident Association of Greater Englewood; Priya Shah, Storycatchers Theatre
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022
9:15-10:30 AM CT
1. Ceding Power to Advance Equity: Are We Ready for the Challenge?
With many grantmakers committing to racial equity, how can we ensure that power is being shared for good and avoiding the pitfalls of the past? In this interactive session, you will be challenged to reflect on your organizational history and the benefits and drawbacks of wielding power. Indialogue with nonprofit leaders, we will discuss the complexities of grantmaker power and what it looks like to build upon the power of grantee partners and nonprofit organizations in meaningful ways. You will walk away with crafted action plans for ways to engage colleagues and grantees in creating a new vision for ceding power.
Speakers: Brandi Yee, ACT for Alexandria; Jayne Park, formerly of IMPACT Silver Spring; Elizabeth Jones Valderrama, OAR of Alexandria
Preview the 2022 GEO National Conference Agenda for more details.