Charitable Ventures’ Post

We should be providing more significant, more flexible philanthropic funding to leaders closest to the issues. It will help them and their work and improve life for all. There are also all sorts of obstacles that hold funders back from taking the leap and making bold, catalytic investments in underrecognized leaders. Unconscious bias is one of them. Chicago Beyond's Mirror Tool counteracts unconscious bias. Learn more about our journey to develop the Mirror Tool in Liz Dozier's recent contribution to the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP), and consider utilizing the Mirror Tool to address bias during decision making. #NoticeDifferently

What does it take to drive equitable systems change given entrenched challenges? Philanthropic leaders are undergoing a powerful shift from believing themselves at the center of social change efforts to now acting as facilitators, connectors, and learners in a larger ecosystem of actors working to create lasting change. In this piece, my colleagues Neyat D., Chris Carlson, Fay Hanleybrown, and John Harper have profiled some of the funders that are leading these efforts. Check out their latest piece to learn more about embracing an ecosystem approach for philanthropy. #philanthropy #foundation #socialimpact #strategy #shiftingpower Read more: https://lnkd.in/eAG_c9aD

What stops you from taking a chance on a big idea? Capacity limitations. Not knowing enough. Fear of failure. These real (and imagined) challenges are leaving hundreds of billions of dollars on the sidelines every year. The untapped potential of philanthropy is immeasurable. I've been so thrilled to flex my entrepreneurial brain on this challenge as we've built out our high-impact grantmaking practice at Building Impact Partners. But we could do so much more! "The 130,000 wealthiest Americans (each with at least $30M net worth) collectively have $15 trillion in wealth. Despite the genuine intentions of many in this group to give meaningfully, collectively they give away only $85B, barely 0.5% of their total wealth, on an annual basis. If these wealthiest Americans gave away even 2% of their wealth each year, that would amount to $300B per year, $215B more than their current total giving."

Trust-based philanthropy isn't blind faith. This article hits the nail on the head: metrics are crucial for strong funder-grantee partnerships. By measuring impact, we can better understand what works and where to focus our efforts. At the Viney Wallach Foundation, we prioritize data-driven decisions while nurturing trust and collaboration. We encourage grantees to collect and share data that is meaningful to them, which informs our partnership and drives positive change. Together, we can build a more equitable and effective philanthropic sector through trust and data. https://lnkd.in/evJK4p7S

"When you’re stretched thin, big ideas generally aren’t on the table. In the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, whether you’re a trusted advisor or staff to a donor, or even a donor yourself, you might find yourself in an annual cycle of wanting to try new things and invest in new areas, and then realizing that your plate is full: you need to continue to maintain relationships with your grantees, evaluate your current impact, and get dollars out the door. Where will you find time for that new and promising seed of an idea?" On the Building Impact Partners blog, partner Caitlin Hannon describes “high-impact grantmaking:” our new approach to support clients who find themselves in similar situations. Read on to learn more! What big bet is still on your to-do list?

Another article about how the adoption of #trustbasedphilanthropy practices leads to focusing the expertise of local nonprofits who can lead the way to more effective grant making. Trust-based philanthropy will help us give more to the right people, but even more importantly can help shine a light on the flaws in our delivery of human services. The Movement Innovation Collaborative is stressing the importance of 'interconnected networks' to create sustainable change. When we don't have consistent funding, collaboration and scale then systems change becomes all the more difficult. This new collaborative focuses on some of the very same principles that C-IMPACT (Chris Swanson - John Farley) espouses as its core tenets; coordination of efforts, infrastructure, funding, capacity building....all leading to collective impact. It's not just about changing how we fund, it's addressing the issues uncovered when we include the right leaders and fund them in the right way. #philanthropy #csr #socialimpact The California Endowment

Great article about the evolution and importance of metrics in philanthropy. Understanding impact and measuring outcomes is essential to the growth of nonprofits and the betterment of society!

Like everything else in life, philanthropy evolves and responds to the needs of society. In this very interesting article, Otto Scharmer describes the evolution of philanthropy and identifies four types of philanthropy that vary in complexity, but are all valid ways to contribute to the betterment of society. From our little corner of Bastion, we want to create systemic change by fostering a philanthropy movement in Latin America. Our founders are walking the talk by investing their resources in this effort. We want to create new philanthropists, we want good-hearted Latin Americans to join us in creating change for our region. There are many ways to help in whatever kind of philanthropy they want to do. We are here to help them. #smartphilanthropy #latinamerica #bethechange

Do you ever ask something like: “wouldn’t it be cool / amazing / incredible if we could do… ?” At Building Impact Partners, we have discovered a common desire among foundations and philanthropists to lead big, bold ideas. The desire for impact is not the issue; it’s capacity to lead such things especially when staff is already stretched thin. That’s where we come in to make those big ideas come to life without further straining staff demands. Read this blog for more or take a look at this excerpt: “When our funding partners don’t have the capacity to connect deeply with each grantee or establish a brand new program, we serve as the conduit between our clients and hundreds of folks receiving resources to drive positive and equitable change. Like everything we do, this isn’t an off-the-shelf product — we customize all of our work and our approach to consider both the needs of the community and the desired outcomes of the work. This might look like researching and recommending new areas of giving, building and launching a grant program where we handle all outreach and applicant support, or creating a fund to support a specific issue area that’s new but important to the personal motivations and joy of the donor. And we build specialized, flexible, and diverse teams to support each of these initiatives based on their unique needs.”

"In the social justice movement space, community “intermediary funds,” as we understand them, are organizations that help allocate funding to people-powered activism. These organizations came to life from movements, and our ultimate aim is to reduce philanthropic infrastructure." Intermediary organizations have emerged from movements and prioritize resourcing movements for justice, especially those led by and for communities disproportionately impacted by systemic oppression. The Stanford Social Innovation Review mentions how the CLIMA Fund, a collaboration among four public foundations of which we are a part, works to provide a continuum of support to grassroots organizations. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e6Xmr63j