“When it comes to donating money, whom do you trust?” This was the headline of a recent New York Times piece by Ann Carrns that extolls the virtues of philanthropic advisers who help “idealistic” donors who may be “blind to potential faults in the groups they support.” While we don’t deny the value of experienced…
Proteus Fund is a public foundation that partners with individual donors and foundations to design and manage collaborative grantmaking on a range of social issues—from curbing the growing influence of money in politics to advancing marriage equality and protecting civil liberties in an age of heightened national security. Even with three distinct funding initiatives with…
When The International Women’s Health Coalition came across The Whitman Institute’s trust-based model two years ago, Program Officer Erin Williams instantly knew that the framework would help IWHC align its grantmaking practices with its feminist values. Since adopting a deliberately trust-based approach, IWHC now solicits ongoing feedback from grantees and is finding enhanced internal clarity…
The Satterberg Foundation is a values-driven family foundation focused on promoting a just society and a sustainable environment. Several years ago, Satterberg’s leadership decided to transform its grantmaking processes in an effort to build greater transparency and better alignment with their core values. One of the most dramatic changes was a shift from program-specific support…
Since its inception in 1960, the Durfee Foundation in Los Angeles has been investing in extraordinary leaders through an almost hard-wired approach to trust-based philanthropy. As a place-based family foundation devoted to leadership, relationships, and constant learning, Durfee is seeing some incredible long-term results. As part of our series on trust-in-practice, we sat down with…