RESOURCES
Participatory Grantmaking
Deciding Together: Shifting Power and Resources Through Participatory Grantmaking illustrates why and how funders around the world are engaging in this practice that is shifting traditional power dynamics in philanthropy. Created with input from a number of participatory grantmakers, the guide shares challenges, lessons learned, and best practices for engaging in inclusive grantmaking.
“The Ford Foundation commissioned this paper to explore participatory approaches, especially participatory grantmaking, and their potential use by foundations. The paper synthesizes several existing participatory frameworks, identifies common components, and applies these to philanthropy as a “starter” framework that can, hopefully, be used as a springboard for ongoing discussion and development among grantmakers and non-grantmakers.”
“Governance fills the space between an aspiration—to make social change, to be inclusive—and exactly how that happens in practice. An analysis of governance structures can reveal useful insights into how a variety of grantmaking initiatives grapple with power, participation, representation, and other important issues. This report summarizes research and analysis on the governance structures of 10 initiatives organized as participatory grantmaking endeavors, funder collaboratives, or a blend of both.”
Trust-Based Philanthropy
Launched in January 2020, the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project is a peer-to-peer funder initiative to address the inherent power imbalances between foundations and nonprofits. This two-pager guide provides an overview of the 6 trust-based practices you can implement today as you get started on your trust-based journey.
This article from the Stanford Social Innovation Review makes the case for the value of trust-based practices in philanthropy.