What Does It Mean for Philanthropy to Be a Community Partner Anyway?

Reimagining Philanthropy explores transformative and decolonialized approaches to philanthropy that can shift our sector from traditional top-down models toward more equitable, community-centered practices. In community, we explore how philanthropic organizations can share power authentically, center affected communities in decision-making, and build truly reciprocal relationships.

Money is power, but relationships can be powerfully transformational.

Community is everything, la comunidad es todo. That’s a phrase I would often hear from my mother when I was growing up in a close-knit, low-income, borderland community. When resources were limited and someone needed help, neighbors knew—you didn’t have to ask—and the community in its own way showed up to help with what they could.

From helping to take the kids to school to showing up at the hospital when someone was sick, neighbors stepped up with kindness to share their limited but valuable resources. These experiences shaped my perspective about how community stands with community by sharing resources and the forces that mobilize them: relationships. Money is power, but relationships can be powerfully transformational.

This sense of community and the importance of relationships has stayed with me. After learning the ropes of organizing from my mother, who organized our neighborhood, and then spending more than a decade organizing on issues like immigrant rights, access to healthcare, and voting rights, it has been the relationships born out of those struggles that taught me about the power of purposeful connections. These lessons remain with me, even though my perspective has shifted, as I now work in the philanthropic sector.

Traditional philanthropy has historically been removed from the issues everyday people face and thus from the solutions and connections needed to solve those problems. As our nation and the world deepen into democratic backsliding, philanthropic leaders must listen and establish real and honest relationships that build trust and create a genuine understanding of the issues facing our communities so that together, philanthropy and community can meet the current moment with courage and decisiveness.

Beyond the Gospel of Wealth

Since the early stages of institutional philanthropy, particularly as foundations were formed during the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, it was believed and shared through writings like Andrew Carnegie’s The Gospel of Wealth that giving was best directed by the wealthy. Those who had succeeded in business, it was asserted, knew best how to address the most pressing issues of the time because accumulating wealth was in itself proof that they knew how to solve problems.

Since then, philanthropy has evolved. At times, approaches like venture philanthropy have often doubled down on an expert- and data-driven “strategic” approach. The idea, in short, that “philanthropy knows best” has not disappeared.

Yet there has also been a growing trend among some in philanthropy toward a more collaborative approach of working in partnership with and supporting communities, marked by the rise of what is widely called “trust-based philanthropy.” Still, multiyear, general operating support—the kind of support widely advocated for by organizations and communities—remains a minority of giving.

The current urgency in this moment of rising authoritarianism in the United States and across the globe calls for philanthropy to engage and develop and nourish meaningful relationships that can lead to transformative change.

How can philanthropy meet this moment? And what can movement and nonprofit actors do? Below is an invitation to jump in and a set of questions that can guide reflection and action for engaging in stronger, deeper relationships.

How Funders Can Build Genuine Community Relationships

One important strength that national foundations bring to the table is a bird’s-eye view of the issues we care about. This is a superpower that gives philanthropy the ability to see trends and gaps like constellations in the night sky.

But that view from above must be complemented with community knowledge. As Harvard sociologist Marshall Ganz noted in an NPQ interview last year, when those with the bird’s-eye view and those with on-the-ground knowledge get separated, “that’s when you have problems.” This is why clear and honest communication between philanthropy and community leaders is not just a nice practice, but essential.

So, philanthropic leaders, if they want to be effective, must listen to the knowledge grantees share, trust their lived experience, and create meaning from it. Funders can also be generous with the power of perspective they have and help community partners fill in the gaps when needed.

As a funder myself, I can attest that conversations with the grantee groups have allowed me to learn how they think and understand the issues they face in their leadership journeys. Establishing a standard agenda that is co-created by funder and grantee is also an important tool.

Part of this active listening also involves accompanying grantees as partners in their journey. To say the obvious, showing up is a very important way to build trust.

When I visit grantees in their communities, I often hear, “I can’t believe you really came to visit,” or when they call me directly to ask a question: “I can’t believe you answered the phone!”

Being present means showing up meaningfully. Many times, a visit to a grantee might take the form of a meeting or an observation. To build relationships as a funder, it helps to ask partners about their needs and how your visit can help bring resources to the community. Ask yourself:

• How do I want to engage with my partners?
• What resources can I bring to the table when visiting a grantee?
• Should I bring a peer funder along who might be interested in supporting the organization?
• Should I help bring together other partners who can benefit from a mutual partnership with this organization?

Practical Foundation Dos and Don’ts

In addition to prioritizing relationship building, foundations seek to support community organizations’ need to make sure that the grant reporting requirements do not get in the way of the work that the grants are intended to support. The point seems obvious, yet so many people on both the giving and receiving ends of funding have horror stories of when that simple notion was not followed.

One superpower of a community-based nonprofit is the power of its story. A community’s experience, especially personal lived experience, is valuable.

In short, it is a foundation’s responsibility to minimize administrative tasks to help grantees focus on their mission. Many in philanthropy have acted to dismantle burdensome administrative structures and requirements that distract leaders from their work, such as requests for long narrative reports or cumbersome grant applications that take hours to complete.

Instead of reporting, focus on having a conversation with partners about what they have learned with their programs and how they plan to adjust. Of course, while some improvements have been made in the past few years, more can be done. Here are some recommendations and questions that can help foundation leaders reduce unnecessary burdens:

How Community Actors Can Push Funders to “Do the Right Thing”

Let me be clear: There is a power imbalance between foundations that give grants and community-based organizations that depend on grants to support their work. Nonetheless, community actors are not powerless.

One superpower of a community-based nonprofit is the power of its story. A community’s experience, especially personal lived experience, is valuable. It is an asset that can not only help educate funders about the complexities and realities inherent in achieving transformative goals, but also a tool that can be leveraged to obtain needed support.

Through story, funders and communities can connect at a deeper level, develop an understanding of the humanity of all involved, and be part of a shared vision. Stories can help everyone look and walk in the same direction. Sharing stories should be embraced as part of everyday work—not just merely tolerated when addressing discomfort. Listening, in short, is a core part of community-supporting philanthropy.

Another important step community actors can take is to ask for what they need. While a community group certainly does not always get what it asks for, it hardly ever gets what it does not ask for. Asking is essential.

Of course, this is easier said than done, but community leaders don’t need a permission structure to dream of a sustainable future in which leaders can grow the work for the long term. In particular, it’s okay to:

1. • Ask for multiyear grants
   • Ask for additional resources that will support a community’s overall strategy
   • Ask for advice via conversation or for funders to be a sounding board

Moving Toward True Community Partnerships

For people in philanthropy, people in community organizations, and beyond, building relationships is more important than ever. These are trying times. The inhumane treatment US immigrants are experiencing today, for example, is not new, but the attacks under the current administration have been far more intense and have come home to every city in the nation.

Everyday people have stepped up to quickly set up networks of mutual aid to care for children who are left behind after their parents have been deported, or to show up with small donations to pay the rent of a family who has been left without the breadwinner.

Given that the focus in philanthropy is often on wealthy donors, it is worth remembering that many of the most generous philanthropists are low-income donors; this is, in fact, a long-term trend.

It’s these everyday philanthropists who are showing the way to building transformative relationships and shaping who we should become as a nation.