Shifting the Culture of Giving: Trust-Based Philanthropy and the Relationships That Anchor It
At Mighty Arrow, we recognize we are incredibly lucky to be in the position we are, giving away capital and meeting remarkable individuals and organizations working to solve our planet’s evolving challenges. To honor our community we spent a year intentionally listening to our Mighty Partners, looking for better ways to support the people on the frontlines of the work ahead. As former entrepreneurs we know business as usual doesn’t cut it, and we’ve learned so much from this year of research. We created the Mighty Partner Report summarizing our learnings, and in an effort to bolster support and galvanize collective power, we’ll be diving deeper into one aspect of what we learned from our partners each month.
What we learned
Through our conversations with partners, we heard a clear message: The current philanthropic system often makes it challenging for organizations to effectively carry out their work. Many shared that the traditional funding cycle creates obstacles for long-term planning and resilience, especially in an unpredictable world. The inconsistency of funder priorities and strategies can complicate the alignment of short-term needs with long-term vision, and across the board, leaders voiced a strong desire for a more relationship-centered approach to philanthropy—one that fosters deeper connections and ultimately benefits everyone.
At the end of the day, trust isn’t built in the short term, it’s built over time and with real, connected relationships anchoring a partnership. We feel this in our personal lives and in the work we do each day and it aligns with the six practices identified by the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project: Give multi-year and unrestricted funding, simplify and streamline paperwork, be transparent and responsive, solicit and act on feedback, and offer support beyond the check.
Our Mighty Partner, Trees, Water & People, speaks to how they have shifted their approach to working with funders, sharing that “Lasting change is built on relationships, and relationships are built on time. With donors who’ve invested in both, we’ve been able to reimagine the scale of our impact... We make the case for philanthropy that recenters communities, focuses on relationships, and thinks long-term.” As a part of their effort to encourage other funders to become a part of the momentum towards trust-based philanthropy, Trees, Water & People produced a new film, In The Right Hands, which explores the topic and movement with their community of funders.
"It's been great to create a more human relationship and a more horizontal relationship with funders, having mutual respect and giving each other space to deal with the challenges inherent to our work in a way that works best for everyone," says Sebastian Africano, Executive Director of Trees Water People.
Africano continued, “One of the things that we did with the Indigenous Lands Program and Mighty Arrow was essentially have a multi-foundation report out. Rather than producing a different report for every funder, we actually had three funders that said that they were amenable to the idea of coming to us for one common report because they were all funding overlapping goals and objectives.”
One of the key practices of trust-based philanthropy is to lighten the reporting lift. For example, reducing frequency and allowing grant partners to reuse material from other funders rather than require a unique format. Additionally, allowing various formats of reporting provides partners with an opportunity to communicate in a way that feels best for them, whether that be a phone / video call, written report or a brief video explaining how they’ve put the grant to use. Building and maintaining stronger relationships with organizations can help fill the role of increased reporting.
“We were able to report on the state of the program to three different funders at the same time, in the same room, and then also introduce them to one another so that they could talk peer-to-peer about how to work more effectively together,” says Africano.
Mighty Arrow benefited from the process because the other funders asked questions we wouldn’t have thought of, and collectively we all learned more by joining the process together.
The call for trust-based philanthropy
A recent article from Stanford Social Innovation Review explored the exact issues our partners speak to. Titled Where Strategic Philanthropy Went Wrong, it asserts that the strategic philanthropy model is not only ineffective, but, despite best intentions, is still inherently problematic, as its philosophies are rooted in outdated thinking that those in need “...cannot be expected to know what they need to improve their lot or be trusted to use unrestricted funds responsibly.” They propose empowerment philanthropy as a new approach, a model in which “...instead of making choices for other people, philanthropists must learn to empower individuals economically and politically to make choices for themselves and then celebrate their successes to inspire others, thus opening a far more pivotal role in fast-tracking widespread, lasting social and environmental progress.”
That lines up with what we heard from our partners. Unrestricted, flexible and multi-year funding was highlighted as a critical need to ensure organizational sustainability, health, meaningful growth and ultimately lasting impact. Partners are interested in rethinking how nonprofits and funding are structured, looking for creative ways to shift to a longer-term mentality so organizations can continue innovate and work strategically—and for the long haul.
“Trust-based philanthropy is about saying, ‘Hey, we're working on the same goals and the more restrictions that you put in place is preventing us from being able to do our work,’” says Africano. “If we want to achieve the goals, we need to focus on the goals, our staff, and the people doing this work. We have to make sure that they're taken care of and that they feel like they're getting a fair shake for the work that they're signed up to do and the responsibilities that they have. Building a little more trust in this space gives us a way we can do it more effectively—and in a way that benefits everyone.”
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A grounding question for us at Mighty Arrow is to ask “how can we do a better job of taking care of the people?” Relationships and trust are just one set of lessons we heard by asking that question in our Mighty Partner Report. We’ll continue to dig deeper in the blog posts ahead.