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…
Last year, The Whitman Institute joined a group of foundations from around the country in a collaborative rapid response fund: Defending the Dream. While we were already doing our own rapid response grantmaking, we knew that teaming up with other funder partners would allow us to work more swiftly and effectively without reinventing the wheel….
Swift Foundation, which predominantly funds Indigenous-led social justice efforts, is on a journey to reverse the Western-centric paradigm of philanthropy. Through their trust-based approach, they prioritize relationships and listening with grantees. They are continuously evolving their process to better reflect their values of inclusion and justice. As part of our ongoing series on trust-based philanthropy,…
2017 was not a year TWI could have withstood alone. Thankfully we didn’t have to. Figuratively and often quite literally, we got by with a little help from our friends. Grantmaking Loves Company Like many social justice foundations, our board immediately authorized a rapid response mechanism post-election. We made a set of grants that represent many…