Trust-Based Philanthropy

@jessicascites our Staff and Board has been really digging into TBP over the last year. The resources on the https://trustbasedphilanthropy.org/ page are great. I would say the biggest challenge we have faced is our relationship to it -- many of the foundations using TBP are private (and, for example, able to identify a time horizon) and as a community foundation, TBP is more itself a disciple and so we are working to identify our relationship with it. In addition, our Board wants to ensure we always maintain donor intent and curious about how this practice would evolve our Grants Committee.

We feel our Covid Relief fund and efforts have been an amazing example of the impact TBP can have. Also, we have really been looking at how TBP values align with ours -- again, this has been really helpful.

Here are two more resources if you have not yet seen them.

We started this a number of years ago and later learned that it had a name. It started with the realization that our grant applications were too burdensome. Over the years -- with good intentions -- additional questions were added in order to make a "responsible funding decision." Problem was, no questions were ever taken off. We asked, "What minimal information do we need to make a solid decision." That was our starting point down this road. Have since learned of the actual concept of TBP, and are still adapting, learning, growing. Our area is small to moderate size, so knowing our grantees fairly well, TBP is probably easier for us than for more urban areas perhaps. To date:

• We have gathered small "focus group" lunches where we ask nonprofit grantees to tell us what we do well, where we could improve
• Have shortened all of our grant and scholarship applications so it takes much less of their valuable time to fill out an application that may or may not be granted
• In months that have a 5th Friday, host a breakfast meeting of nonprofit Executive Directors (only -- no proxies); guest speaker, social time, agency announcements
• During pandemic, converted project grants to operating funds;
• For new grants during pandemic, asked that if they had already filled out an application elsewhere for the same request, just to send us a pdf of that application, not to bother filling out ours; will probably continue this going forward
• We rarely make site visits, do not require progress reports, only a brief final report; and it's okay if the grant project didn't succeed as planned, we just ask "What did your learn in the process? What can we do differently next time to help it succeed?"
• I periodically meet np ED's for coffee just to visit. Usually end up finding out what issues they are facing. They see the CF more as a peer -- even while there is that relationship serving as a funder.
• To be clear, we are not an expert at TBP, but we are learning what we think is a better relationship than having np's approach our throne on bended knee.