General Operating Support

Funder Spotlight: Peery Foundation

By February 13, 2018

Over the past few years, the Peery Foundation has cemented a practice of grantee-centric philanthropy rooted in building trust, dignity, and self-reliance. Its portfolio is focused on strengthening youth and families by supporting social entrepreneurs and organizations in the San Francisco Peninsula, as well as leaders in developing countries working on innovative solutions to address…

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Funder Spotlight: Satterberg Foundation

By January 30, 2018

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…

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Funder Spotlight: Swift Foundation

By January 9, 2018

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,…

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Real Talk on the Real Deal of Unrestricted Funding

By July 21, 2015

While a handful of notable institutional moves toward unrestricted funding have cropped up lately, it is still the case that most funding continues to be program restricted. Here’s a short video where TWI’s own core grantees and funder partners provide “real talk” on what unrestricted funding allows and inspires them and their organizations to do….

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Small Can Be Big

By July 13, 2015

Based on feedback from their third CEP Grantee Perception Report, Don Howard of the Irvine Foundation announced this week their intention to make some changes. Namely, providing more general operating support, being more flexible about grantee timelines and objectives, and deepening staff engagement. As with Darren Walker’s letter from the Ford Foundation, I am encouraged…

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