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.
TBP or Not TBP? A Reflection on MacKenzie Scott’s Giving
Senior Fellow, Pia Infante reflects on a previous letter thanking MacKenzie Scott, for what was then referred to as her “trust-based philanthropy” approach. Despite some shared values, there are some key differences in the “how” of it all. “I now realize it was a bit hasty to label Scott’s effort “trust-based philanthropy.”
What Comes Next? Early Stage Reflections from TBP’s Senior Fellow
Earlier this year, I happily took on the role of Senior Fellow with the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project – driven by a sense that there was unfinished business from my previous role co-directing The Whitman Institute. These six months or so later, I have a slightly different purview.
Unfinished Business: Post-Spendout Reflections from TBP Senior Fellow Pia Infante
It has been just a few short months since The Whitman Institute, my beloved former institution, closed its doors for good. This ending was a deliberate one. While those of us on the team ended with a dual sense of pride and completion, I had a lingering sense of unfinished business.
Onboarding the Loyal Skeptic(s) on My Board
“As we became more public about trust-based philanthropy, our board raised critical questions that made me wonder if they were fully bought in.” -Pia Infante
Dear MacKenzie Scott, Thank You For Your Trust-Based Philanthropy
In this letter to MacKenzie Scott, The Whitman Institute’s co-executive director Pia Infante reflects on Ms. Scott’s 2020 giving. “Ms. Scott, you have changed the philanthropic landscape – for good – and shown that a non-traditional, more equitable way of giving is possible.”
In the Face of a Pandemic, Foundations Adopt Trust-Based Principles
Last week, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, several of the nation’s top foundations pledged to ease or eliminate restrictions on grants, reduce asks of grantees, and support and uplift the voices of grantee partners. The Whitman Institute’s Pia Infante reflects on what happens after the pledge, how our words translate to embodied action, and how we can use this moment to assert values of power-sharing and equity.
6 Components of a Trust-Based Relationship
There are as many ways to enter into trust-based philanthropy as there are reasons funders are embracing this approach. Pia Infante, co-executive director of The Whitman Institute, reflects on the stages of this approach, and the one element that stands at the center of all the trust-based principles: developing and nurturing relationships of mutual trust and partnership, including accounting for and actively reimagining power dynamics.