Philanthropy Southwest 2025 – Let’s Share What We Learned!
Hi everyone!
For those of you who attended the Philanthropy Southwest Annual Conference this week, I’d love to use this thread as a space to reflect, share, and connect around what we learned.
Discussion prompts:
- What was your biggest takeaway or “aha” moment from the conference?
- Did you attend any sessions that stood out or sparked new ideas for your foundation?
- How are you thinking about applying what you learned back home?
Bonus: If you snapped any photos from sessions, networking events, or the beautiful venues, please feel free to share them here, too!
Let’s keep the momentum from the week going by learning from each other. Whether it’s a great quote from a speaker, a new idea for donor engagement, or a challenge you’re excited to explore further.
Looking forward to hearing your highlights and reflections!
Mark Bejcek
Client Success Consultant
Comments
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Hi all,
I wanted to share a few of my takeaways from the Innovative Grantmaking Structures session at the conference. It was one of the most content-packed discussions of the week!
We covered a range of topics related to public charity types and what happens when foundations grant to organizations that don’t have 501(c)(3) status. That’s where Expenditure Responsibility (ER) comes into play, a process designed to ensure funds are used for charitable purposes. It involves steps like a pre-grant inquiry, a written grant agreement, segregating funds when necessary, ongoing reporting, and required action if funds are misused.
We also explored international grantmaking, including:
- How ER applies when granting to foreign charities that aren’t 501(c)(3)s
- Anti-terrorism compliance (OFAC and SDN List checks)
- The role of “Friends Of” organizations — U.S. 501(c)(3)s that fundraise for and distribute grants to international partners
Another topic was Equivalency Determinations, which let a foundation do its own due diligence to determine if a foreign organization meets U.S. charitable standards. It used to rely on affidavits, but now attorney opinions can be used (typically valid for two years). The process can be costly and isn’t practical for one-off grants.
We then dove into Program-Related Investments (PRIs) and Mission-Related Investments (MRIs) — both ways to align capital with charitable purpose, but with different financial and tax implications. (In short: PRIs directly support charitable activities and can count toward payout requirements, while MRIs are made from endowment assets and seek both social and financial returns.)
Finally, we learned about Development Impact Bonds and Social Impact Bonds. These are both innovative financing tools that link repayment to performance outcomes. Development Impact Bonds fund specific projects where investors are repaid when goals are met, while Social Impact Bonds are structured around social outcomes that lead to public savings (and are much trickier to design).
It was a great session overall, with lots of creative examples of how foundations are thinking beyond traditional grantmaking models.
Sharing a few photos from the event below!
- Dinner at the historic Golden Bee British Pub:
2. The Front Range to the west of the Broadmoor:
3. Opening session for the conference:
4. Boadmoor East buildings over the lake:
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