Trust-Based Philanthropy

Balancing Great Relationships and Great Expectations

By September 12, 2019

What makes for great relationships between funders and their nonprofit partners? We have always believed that it starts with respect, authenticity, and honesty across power differentials in ways that build trust over time. In fact, we have often written about ways to bridge power divides by being proactive, relational funders who don’t create conditions where…

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The Power of Reflection: The Story of On The Move

By April 10, 2019

On The Move isn’t your typical youth development agency. Since its founding in 2003, this multi-year grantee of The Whitman Institute has been continuously evolving its work to meet the emergent needs of young people across California. In the last 15 years, On The Move has grown to a $7M organization that partners with local…

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End of Year Reflections

By December 18, 2018

“I can’t believe the year is almost over.” “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it’s December.” “How is it 2019 already?!” I’ve either used or listened to variations on these sentences a lot lately.  Time seems to move ever faster and events that were a just a couple months ago…

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Interview with Edgar Villanueva: Decolonizing Wealth

By October 10, 2018

In Decolonizing Wealth, Edgar Villanueva provides a refreshing perspective on the future of philanthropy and finance, pointing to Native wisdom as a way to dismantle the oppressive systems that permeate the sector today. With Edgar’s book launch just around the corner, we sat down with him to hear more about his vision and how it…

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From Lunch to Long-Term Relationship: The Story of TWI and Thousand Currents

By August 2, 2018

A Trust-Based, Collaborative Relationship from the Start Thousand Currents became part of the Whitman Institute family in 2013, after an unexpectedly fruitful lunch meeting between Rajasvini Bhansali and John Esterle. “We got together to brainstorm what it would look like for Thousand Currents to model donor education–much like our [grantee] partners do political education in…

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