Tools & Resources to Shift Power to Communities
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Looking at your role/function within your foundation.
What are listening practices that can shift power?
Assess how you are listening through a set of reflection questions.
Engaging in other large-scale listening activities
For funders committed to shifting power to, and sharing power with, those most impacted by their work, participation is key. Participatory approaches in philanthropy center the leadership, wisdom, and voices of communities. They shift power from philanthropy’s traditional power centers (i.e., the donors and institutions that control the money) to the people and communities directly affected by the issues being addressed.
Resources to shift power
- Fund for Shared Insight
- Melinda Tuan and Britt Lake
- via Center for Effective Philanthropy
- Lori Bartczak and Sandra Moore, with audio from Walter Howell
- Community Wealth Partners
Get inspired by what other funders are working on
Inatai Foundation hires employees who, explains president & CEO Nichole June Maher, “reflect the people we are accountable to and have expertise in delivering change with communities.” Inatai does not require prospective staff to have philanthropy experience, and they prioritize candidates who are connected to and live in certain counties in Washington that may be underrepresented on their team. They rarely recruit out of state.
After learning from community leaders how much they valued local connections, Inatai, based in Seattle, opened a second office in another part of the state, and has team members working remotely in more than a third of the state’s counties. Says Maher: “This approach extends to how we recruit board members, where we host meetings and convenings, where and with whom we spend our dollars, and of course, where we make grants.”
A partnership between the City of Philadelphia and the Scattergood Foundation, the Overdose Prevention and Community Healing Fund uses national opioid settlement money to address the harms of the opioid epidemic. As one of the foundation’s three “Participatory Funds,” the Prevention Fund is designed to involve impacted residents in decision making, such as through a Community Advisory Committee that helps set grantmaking strategy. A committee member’s experience of having lost a loved one to overdose led the group to reframe the fund’s grant focus areas to elevate needs around community and family healing.
In addition to the advisory committee, Community Granting Groups (CGG) in each of the fund’s neighborhoods of focus review applications and make selections for awards through a facilitated participatory process. CGG members, most of whom have been in recovery and/or have cared for a loved one in addiction, are careful not to evaluate grant applications based on grammar, spelling, or writing style, but rather on the organization’s impact. Members also share their personal experiences with organizations, as well as the reputation that organizations have in the community. Caitlin O’Brien, Scattergood’s director of learning and community impact, says this process helps identify organizations that are deeply rooted in their communities, and lifts up grassroots groups that do not have access to professional grant writers and other resources, which often causes them to be overlooked by traditional philanthropy.
“Ultimately money is power,” says O’Brien, “so we are working to move power into the hands of people who are most impacted by how these dollars get spent .”
Omaha Community Foundation (OCF) supports five Community Interest Funds run by committees made up of residents who are directly connected to or identify with the populations the funds aim to support. The committees are responsible for setting and guiding direction, determining the process for grant selection, making funding decisions, and selecting additional committee members. Prospective committee members apply to serve through an open application process and are selected by the existing committee members.
The foundation provides administrative support to the funds and capacity-building and other support to the committees and to grant applicants. It also helps committee members embrace their role as more than advisors or managers of the funds, but, what staff describe as “true owners of it.”
The Katz Amsterdam Foundation collaborated with global social impact firm FSG and representatives from seven mountain resort communities to create a shared measurement framework with joint indicators for mental health and well-being. Previously, grantees had shared that key data on mental health and community well-being were unavailable for many mountain resort communities, making it difficult to measure their impact or develop programs that truly addressed community needs. Informed by community surveys conducted every other year, the data is now available through a public-facing dashboard in English and Spanish. Grantees have leveraged this data for strategic decision-making, targeting programs for specific sub-populations, securing additional funding, and collaborating effectively across regions.
As a new health conversion foundation, Natrona Collective Health Trust wanted to create a philanthropic institution centered on the belief that the community owns and informs their work. They partnered with global social impact firm FSG on a strategic planning process that engaged over 50 community members and leaders, particularly members of historically marginalized communities. Hearing from community members brought local and national data on health disparities to life. For example, many were surprised to learn that it could take someone hours to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy using public transportation.
Based on the data and what they heard from the community, the foundation decided to focus its work on improving behavioral health in early childhood and adolescence. They also have created a program advisory committee composed of paid community members and work with youth and other community members on participatory grantmaking efforts.
Explore this menu to spark the changes you want to see.
Mix and match to find the examples, resources, and reflections best suited to help you and your organization shift power to the people and communities at the heart of your work.
Have questions about the menu or ideas for resources or examples?
Please reach out to our communications manager, Debra Blum.
Explore this menu to spark the changes you want to see.
Mix and match to find the examples, resources, and reflections best suited to help you and your organization shift power to the people and communities at the heart of your work.
Have questions about the menu or ideas for resources or examples?
Please reach out to our communications manager, Debra Blum.
