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Part 1: How Funders Can Strengthen Connections To Community; Seeing Your Community and Navigating Relationships
As practitioners, advisors and consultants to funders, conveners and conductors of community collaboration, we have observed collaboration and collective impact in communities across the country. From our on-the-ground experience, we have seen it done well, and not so well. In this first of a two-blog series, we’ll provide several guideposts about how funders can better... Read More
Betting on Systems Change: One Foundation’s Journey
Forward-thinking philanthropy is by nature a gamble. With new ideas continually being tested, new fields discovered and new measurements created, it can be difficult to know when you are succeeding. We substitute the known to try and bring order. We count the number of people served. We measure the hours of service provided. We substitute scale... Read More
3 Immediate Steps Funders Can Take To Move Towards Racial Equity
Diversity and racial equity touch on every aspect of a foundation’s work. In the blog posts Developing a Shared Language and Introducing an Anti-Racist Intersectional Frame, we discussed how philanthropy can advance racial equity. In this post, we lay out three ways you can start doing racial equity work in real time. 1. Look Internally... Read More
Our Family Foundation’s Approach To Trust-Based Philanthropy
One of our grantees said, the greatest gift you can give another person is trust. Thus, when I started thinking about how to share our experiences with trust-based philanthropy, I first thought about hearing our grantees’ perspectives. This defines our philanthropic philosophy: working collectively to inspire possibility, innovation and sustainable outcomes. Engaging in trust-based philanthropy... Read More
Introducing an Anti-Racist, Intersectional Frame for Lean Funders
For over forty years, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) has worked to produce equal outcomes for children, families and communities. In part one of this blog series, we shared CSSP’s Key Equity Terms & Concepts. The organization’s commitment to equity, especially racial equity, means we’re constantly evolving our thinking. Part of this evolution... Read More
Nonprofit Collaboration Is Essential Now—How Funders Can Play a Role
These unprecedented times require new ways of working together. Nonprofits’ services are needed more than ever. But there are fewer resources to support them. Organizations have already lost significant revenue streams from cancelled fundraisers and lost earned income. The number of households that give was decreasing before the pandemic hit, says the 2019 Giving USA... Read More