relationship

The Trump Effect at TWI, and Elsewhere

By April 20, 2017

The Trump effect, at The Whitman Institute (and elsewhere) By Marc Gunther The Trump administration is having an unmistakable impact on philanthropy. That was brought home to me at this month’s Skoll World Forum, notably with the Omidyar Network’s promise to commit $100 million to support independent journalism and combat hate. On a panel about philanthropy, Laleh Ispahani of…

Read more

A Post Election Reflection

By January 15, 2017

The recent election was a disaster that will continue to unfold in the months ahead. Many of our partners and colleagues have written posts that have resonated and give me hope as the outlook gets more grim. In her recent post Pia spoke for me as well, reaffirming our commitment to our mission and values…

Read more

Trust As A Starting Point

By October 21, 2016

What if we as funders started with trust, instead of making potential partners “earn” it?  Vu Le starts our sibling blog posts today by questioning the assumption that grant seekers need to prove their basic trustworthiness to funders. Indeed, up-ending this premise has been inherent in TWI’s approach since we started making grants. TWI’s 9 Practices…

Read more
voice of witness cliff mayotte

What Happens When Philanthropy and Empathy Meet?

By September 30, 2016

Most grants and reports happen on paper. Here at the Whitman Institute (TWI), we like to do things a little differently. Recently, we invited current and potential supporters for one of our core grantees, Voice of Witness (VOW), for lunch at the office. Our relationship with VOW had come full-circle: Six years earlier, TWI Co-Executive…

Read more

Four Dating Tips to Sustain Strong Grantmaker-Grantee Relationship

By August 5, 2016

The following was released in the Stanford Social Innovation Review today by Kierra Johnson of United for Reproductive and Gender Justice.  TWI heartily endorses these thoughtful practices, as they mirror tips we shared earlier this year! As someone who’s been in the nonprofit sector for almost two decades, I have spent a lot of time working…

Read more