7 Responsibilities of A Trust-Based Board

A trust-based board prioritizes partnering in a spirit of service with foundation staff. Board members see their primary role not as gatekeepers and overseers, but rather as strategic guides stewarding an organization’s big-picture vision and supporting its emerging needs.

Trust-based philanthropy invites foundation board members to recognize their critically important role in upholding and modeling an organization’s culture and values. When board members embrace this as their main role in a trust-based context, it opens up tremendous potential for building and sustaining a culture of trust, alleviating power imbalances, and empowering staff to build trust-based relationships with grantee partners.