In today’s complex philanthropic landscape, traditional grantmaking often falls short of addressing deep-rooted societal challenges. Many funders devote most of their time to making grants rather than tackling the systems and structures that sustain these problems.
What Is Catalytic Leadership in Philanthropy?
Catalytic Leadership in Philanthropy (CLIP) is a values-driven approach that reimagines how lean funders, those with fewer staff and leaner infrastructures, can create lasting, systemic change. It leverages a foundation’s relationships, non-grant assets, and proven practices, prioritizing flexibility, collaboration, and deep understanding of community dynamics over transactional, bureaucratic processes.
Rethinking Traditional Grantmaking
At its core, CLIP shifts funders from being distant financial contributors to active, engaged partners. This relationship-driven approach empowers lean funders to become more than grantmakers. They become catalysts for systemic change, building genuine partnerships with grantees and communities. By breaking down traditional power imbalances, funders and grantees work as co-creators. Together, they aim for lasting social impact and stronger communities.
Skills, Practices, and Deeper Understanding
CLIP is built on leadership virtues that support a series of key skills and core practices. These help funders develop a deep, personal understanding of the issues they care about. With this insight, funders can leverage catalysts to promote broad, systemic change that extends far beyond what grants alone can accomplish.
Leadership Virtues
What sets CLIP apart are its four Leadership Virtues: humility, passion, curiosity, and patience. Modeled by creative, pioneering lean funders in Exponent Philanthropy’s community, these virtues inspire funders to lead with open minds and hearts, listening deeply to the communities they serve.
- Humility – Acknowledges personal limitations and values the expertise of others, building a strong foundation for effective philanthropy.
- Passion – Drives catalytic leaders to tackle pressing societal issues, engaging deeply in the causes they believe in rather than simply writing checks.
- Curiosity – Encourages funders to think creatively, seek fresh perspectives, and pursue innovative solutions to complex problems.
- Patience – Supports long-term commitments, recognizing that solving deep-rooted systemic issues requires sustained effort over years or even decades.
Together, these virtues reshape traditional grantmaking, helping funders move beyond rigid practices that can stifle innovation and responsiveness.
Key Skills
Practitioners of CLIP rely on three Key Skills: deep listening, building strong relationships, and understanding the landscape. These skills are essential for fostering trust and collaboration with grantees.
- Listen deeply – Approach conversations with humility and curiosity to understand the true needs of those you serve. This insight helps you partner effectively to create meaningful change.
- Build strong relationships – Relationships are the backbone of catalytic leadership. Strong connections create the trust and collaboration needed for systemic change.
- Understand the landscape – A clear view of the systems at play allows you to spot opportunities, identify leverage points, and determine where you can make the greatest impact.
When funders strengthen these skills, they gain deeper insight into complex challenges and can support innovative, community-driven solutions.
Core Practices
CLIP emphasizes four Core Practices: focused giving, centering equity, getting out of the office, and providing long-term, flexible funding to help lean funders maximize their impact.
- Share a clear focus and purpose – Define and communicate your priorities so you can direct time, energy, and resources toward the strategies that make the biggest difference.
- Center equity – Move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach by listening to communities and co-creating solutions that promote fairness and inclusion.
- Get out of the office – Streamline processes so you can spend more time engaging directly with people and work that drives meaningful change.
- Make multiyear, flexible grants – Provide long-term, flexible support to help grantee partners achieve lasting, systemic results.
Practicing these approaches keeps funders connected to community needs and creates the conditions for systemic change.
The Catalysts
The final part of CLIP is the set of Catalysts: connect, collaborate, champion, and advocate. These actions help funders use non-grant strategies to create lasting impact in their communities.
- Connect – Use your unique perspective to introduce people who have not met, link ideas within or across focus areas, and bring together grantees, partners, and community members.
- Collaborate – Promote partnerships that streamline efforts, strengthen nonprofit capacity, and increase the sustainability of organizations.
- Champion – Elevate grantees’ work to showcase promising solutions to complex problems and inspire additional support from others.
- Advocate – Push for systems change by commissioning and sharing research, forming and funding coalitions, highlighting grantees’ contributions, and raising awareness about critical issues.
By embracing these catalysts, leaders can leverage their own reputation, and that of their foundation, to connect people, foster collaboration, amplify grantee work, and advocate for lasting change.
What’s To Come
In the coming weeks, we will share real-world case studies showing how CLIP transforms philanthropic work. From advancing early childhood education reform in New Mexico to strengthening community bonds and the nonprofit ecosystem in Western New York, funders who embrace these principles report a renewed sense of purpose, stronger partnerships, and, most importantly, greater ability to drive systemic change. Leaders such as Colleen O’Keefe of the Sauer Family Foundation, Sheena Solomon of the Gifford Foundation, Michael Weinberg formerly of the Thornburg Foundation, and Danielle Reyes of the Crimsonbridge Foundation illustrate CLIP’s transformative impact, demonstrating how it not only shapes their work but also deepens their personal connection to the causes they champion.
Catalytic Leadership in Philanthropy is a call to action for lean funders to move beyond traditional roles and become true partners in creating lasting, sustainable change. By working alongside communities rather than above them, funders can reimagine what philanthropy can be. For those ready to take this step, CLIP offers both guidance and inspiration to lead with purpose and vision.
Deepen Your Knowledge of Catalytic Leadership in Philanthropy
Join us in Columbus, OH — November 11–13, 2025 — for our Annual Conference. Come early for the 990‑PF Pre‑Conference Tax Seminar, a focused, expert-led session that offers practical guidance on navigating private foundation tax filings.
CLIP-Focused Conference Sessions
- Communication That Works: Tools and Strategies for Lean Funders
- Communities of Color Index: Measuring Impact and Advancing Equity in Philanthropy
- Cultivating Capacity and Community Through Strategic Convenings
- More than Money: Creating Impact Beyond Traditional Funding
- Putting People First: Transparent, Equitable, and Relational Grantmaking
- Learning to Listen: Centering Community Voices in Philanthropy
- Making Grant Applications More Efficient and Equitable
👉 Check out the full agenda for all sessions »
About the Author
Brendan McCormick is the director of research and publications at Exponent Philanthropy. He works with members, partners, and staff to develop resources and research on our funder community.