About Our Grantmaking

The Whitman Institute is a small foundation that balances multi-year support with annual funding. We do not accept unsolicited grant proposals. Rather, we seek out and fund a limited number of tax-exempt organizations that share our mission of exploring, supporting, and promoting ways to develop the capacity of individuals and groups to think critically and make good decisions.

We regard philanthropy as a genuine collaboration between grantor and grantee. While we provide the grants, our grantees do the hard work of moving us closer to realizing our mission. We see our role as larger than that of funder, and we invite our grantees to explore with us ways that we can work with them to ensure their success and enhance our mutual learning.

 
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  One of the biggest challenges nonprofit organizations face is achieving financial stability. Too often grantees must invent programs they think foundations will fund instead of seeking funds for what they really need. We believe that our grantees are the best judges of how to spend grant dollars. Therefore, our policy is to support organizations and to give grants for general operating expenses.

TWI also believes in the importance of cross-fertilization. Because of budgetary constraints, most nonprofit organizations have limited opportunities to meet with colleagues. For that reason, TWI periodically convenes gatherings to allow our grantees to share experiences and exchange ideas and contacts. Beyond just building a network of thinkers and activists, we hope our grantees will become a collective force for stimulating change in their own domains and in the larger society.
 
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