conversation

12 Awesome Things Funders Do

By August 19, 2015

We at TWI are in full agreement with Vu Le‘s recent post about 12 Things Funders Do right.  In fact, many of the 12 show up on TWI’s own compendium of 9 Practices of Trust-based Investment.  In a side by side comparison, it’s clear that respect, transparency, partnering in a true spirit of service, feedback…

Read more

On Behalf of Naiveté

By August 7, 2015

Recently I found myself around a table of philanthropic leaders in California, many seasoned funders who’ve funded social change and civil rights for years – if not decades. We were gathered around the compelling question of how to support the emerging and powerful movement(s) for racial equity that have gained so much prominence nationally. The…

Read more

Funder Q&A: The Power of Listening to Your Grantees

By July 31, 2015

This was originally posted on The Center for Effective Philanthropy website on July 23rd, written by Ethan McCoy. On June 2, Don Matteson, chief program officer at The Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation, joined CEP’s Naomi Orensten for an informative and lively webinar about the Grantee Perception Report® (GPR). In the conversation, Don discussed…

Read more

Towards A Better Place: Trusting Relationships Will Move Us Forward

By July 26, 2015

“There needs to be a call to action in this field around relationships and trust.” – Jamie Allison, S. H. Cowell Foundation I was in the audience when Jamie (also a TWI trustee) made that compelling statement last September during the closing plenary of Towards a Better Place: A Conversation about Promising Practice in Place-Based…

Read more

I Will Stand By You: A Reflection on TWI’s Sixth Retreat

By July 26, 2015

TWI held its first weekend retreat in October 2007 with the aim of bringing together our current grantees with our board and staff for a weekend of reflection, renewal, and relationship building. With that aim still in mind, we held our sixth one earlier this month in Santa Cruz. I’m thankful to TWI board member,…

Read more