Trust-Based Blog
Reimagining philanthropy begins with learning out loud.
By sharing ideas, with curiosity and humility, the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project blog features trust-based grantmakers who talk about their own lessons, questions, and aha-moments along their power-sharing journeys.
There Is a Trust Gap in Philanthropy. Donors Can Help Close It.
Trust alone won’t build a more equitable and effective nonprofit sector and democratic society. It requires donors to reckon with systemic inequity and their implicit biases.
What Critics Are Getting Wrong About Trust-Based Philanthropy
One of the most oversimplified misperceptions of trust-based philanthropy is that it is about giving money with no strings attached. This opens the door for critics to make unfounded claims about trust-based philanthropy as loose, unstrategic, and lacking in accountability and outcomes.
Are You Trustwashing?
The rise of trust-based philanthropy has led to a dramatic increase in funders referring to themselves as “trust-based.” Some of those funders are genuinely committed to the nuanced and iterative work of trust-based philanthropy, which requires a willingness to confront power imbalances and systemic inequities across all dimensions of our work.
What Will It Take for Trust-Based Philanthropy to Stick?
At this crossroads moment, when some funders are considering pulling back toward a problematic set of norms, the Trust-Based Philanthropy in 4D tool offers reflections and action steps to help foundations make trust-based philanthropy stick.
There Is No Trust-Based Philanthropy Without Equity
We’re introducing our updated Trust-Based Philanthropy Overview! When it comes to the role of funders, we believe that trust-based philanthropy cannot be operationalized without addressing built-in biases, systemic racism, and other inequalities. This updated Overview reflects our approach, and underscores that we can’t achieve trust-based philanthropy without centering and working toward racial equity.
Will Philanthropy Be Trust-Based By 2024?
"If before 2020, a dim light shined down on the rusty, outdated practices of our sector, flood lights now illuminate the need for change." On the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project's one-year mark, our director Shaady Salehi asks, Will Philanthropy Be Trust-Based by 2024?
Trust-Based Philanthropy Begins With Confronting Systemic Power Imbalances
Leaders in philanthropy have stepped up and spoken out about the many ways philanthropy has upheld and reinforced systemic racism and white supremacist culture. For many in the sector, this is a tough pill to swallow, but it is necessary medicine if we truly want to achieve a vision of a more equitable, sustainable, and democratic society.
Confessions of a Former Nonprofit ED
Trust-Based Philanthropy Project Director Shaady Salehi reflects on her experience as a first-time executive director, the challenges and power dynamics she faced, and what motivates her to be a part of the growing advocacy movement to make trust-based practices the norm.