“We would probably be better off as a society if the decision makers in the nation’s large private foundations took up surfing.”
So begins “Letting Go,” an article in the Spring 2011 edition of Stanford Social Innovation Review.
“Why? Because surfing is about letting go, and that’s what foundations must do to achieve higher impact…Too often, funders insist on controlling the ways in which social problems are solved. This is a move in the wrong direction.”
Authored by Kristi Kimball and Malka Kopell, both of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the feature goes on to illustrate how foundations tend to thwart their own best intentions by micromanaging the efforts of their grantees. Instead, foundations should pursue these “three promising approaches” to grantmaking that “relinquish control over solutions to social problems”:
- Provide general support for effective organizations and leaders
- Support community-designed strategies
- Foster innovation
It’s an argument that hits close to home for Global Greengrants Fund. As a grantmaker ourselves, we embrace intuition in grantmaking and trust-based philanthropy. We understand that our investments in lasting social change are long-term. We believe activist-led grantmaking and a diversified portfolio of grants are the most effective means to foster change from the ground up. And we recognize that this change takes many forms, occurs at different speeds, and has different meanings in different regions.
Kudos to Ms. Kimball and Ms. Kopell for articulating the point so well.
Other Notable News
Broadening the Scope of Climate Funding
A May 31st article in Politico, “Green Donors Taking Time To Soul Search,” highlights the disappointment over pouring millions of dollars into unsuccessful climate legislation in the United States. A few key quotes that we liked:
Lee Wasserman, director of the Rockefeller Family Fund: “There’s certainly more than one approach to get there. “If we knew exactly what was going to work, we’d be there by now.”
Hal Harvey, CEO of ClimateWorks: “Long-term social change doesn’t happen in days or weeks. It takes years. Nor does it happen in the narrow confines of Washington.”
Focusing Funding on Women and Girls
Mama Cash and the European Foundation Center recently carried out a study on European foundations’ grantmaking to women and girls. A PDF of the study, entitled Untapped Potential, can be downloaded here.
Not surprisingly, the evidence is promising and there’s good reason to do more. From the introduction:
“Two premises are becoming more widely understood and accepted: that investing in women and girls is inherently valuable and desirable in its own right and investing in women and girls palpably elevates the well-being of all.”