When high-quality listening opens up opportunities for more participatory practices, you can be ready. Here you will find discussion guides about launching a participatory philanthropy process, concrete tools to help you design or improve your grantmaking, and reflections on how power shifts can happen in your philanthropy.
We created this resource to offer insights, recommendations, and the nuts and bolts of design and implementation to inform and inspire your own journey toward more participatory practices.
Find here questions and discussion prompts to advance conversations about participatory philanthropy within your organization before deciding how you might implement new practices or programs.
Drawing from Shared Insight’s own participatory grantmaking initiative (see the “How We Did It” section for details), we offer reflections on our experience and ideas for how you can apply the learning to your own philanthropy. Here are nine insights and the practices we recommend in response.
- Use Expansive Definitions and Approaches
- Take a Holistic Approach to Funding
- Be Open to Communities’ Definitions of Geographic Boundaries
- Explore Trust-Based Participatory Philanthropy
- Aim for Radical Hospitality and Inclusion
- Increase Participation in Each Phase of Work
- Embrace Interconnectedness (Including Conflicts of Interest)
- Identify and Shift Administrative Risks and Burdens
- See Beyond the 501(c)(3)
Resources for Funders Ready to Go →
Sample templates (e.g., budgets and project outlines), practical tips, and other resources for when you are ready to start your participatory work
Operating Budget Checklist
A checklist for planning your operating budget
Participatory Project Outline
A sample outline for incorporating participation into your grantmaking cycles
Sample Project Scope
A sample project scope for determining your funding parameters
Project Roles
Sample descriptions of the roles, phases of involvement, and engagement levels of different kinds of participants
Participant Compensation
Good practices and tips for compensating participants fairly and generously
Conflicts of Interest
Definitions, sample scenarios, and reflection questions for managing and destigmatizing interconnectedness
Participatory Learning and Evaluation
Recommendations for implementing participatory approaches to learning and evaluation
The Participatory Philanthropy Toolkit is based on the first-hand experiences of the funders, consultants, and community members who were involved in our Participatory Climate Initiative, a one-time program to explore participatory practices in grantmaking. This case study offers a detailed description of each phase of that work — what, how, and when it all happened — with takeaways to inspire or kickstart your own participatory processes.
How We Did it: Step-by-Step Look at Participatory Climate Initiative
The Participatory Philanthropy Toolkit is based on the first-hand experiences of the funders, consultants, and community members involved in a $2-million Fund for Shared Insight initiative exploring participatory practices in grantmaking. This case study offers a detailed description of each phase of that work, what, how, and when it all happened.
Participatory Philanthropy: Discussions and Hot Topics
- Katy Love and Winifred Olliff
- Fund for Shared Insight
- Jeree Thomas
- Borealis Philanthropy
- Katy Love and Winifred Olliff
- Fund for Shared Insight
- Katy Love
- Fund for Shared Insight
- Anne Meysenburg and Dasia Horne
- Omaha Community Foundation
- Melinda Tuan
- Fund for Shared Insight
- Filantropía Puerto Rico Podcast
- with Melinda Tuan
