The idea of restorative philanthropy was provoked for me at ivoh’s Restorative Narrative Colloquium last weekend. Restorative Narrative is an approach to storytelling (e.g. journalistic, documentary, etc.) that walks with a place or community over time, usually after a tragedy, to show how rebuilding and restoration are emerging. It contrasts (in both content and process)…
Since I returned from a two-month sabbatical in September, Pia has nudged me to share reflections about the experience. I’ve taken my time in doing so. It’s because of my natural procrastination around writing, but also because I felt my main insight three months off would be better than two! I actually haven’t written anything…
[This article was first published here on our partners Exponent Philanthropy’s site] Let’s say you own a company that makes energy bars. You wouldn’t dream of releasing a new product line without seeing if your fitness-focused target buyers liked it. Similarly, a foundation should not launch a new grant program without checking in with the…
Can love be the right metric for a billion dollar philanthropy? While this post by Suzanne Guillette seems to argue both for and against this premise – I propose that love can be a metric for authentic partnerships, particularly when power and money are involved. While we and many others in the sector have chorused that multi-year,…
Trust-based relationships. Grantee-centric philanthropy. True partnerships that advance impact for communities. How do we together improve the efficiency, respectfulness, and outcomes of our sector? Recently Jane Leu (previous Peery Foundation grantee, founder of several social ventures and prolific fund raiser), and I hosted a workshop for funders and fund raisers to discuss the funding/fund raising interaction…