How Will Participatory Philanthropy Take Center Stage this Giving Season?
By Emily Sullivan
This topic is also explored in a conversation with Derek Bardowell, CEO of Ten Years Time and author of Giving Back: How to do Good Better.
Tis the season of giving… and something interesting is happening…
There is an ongoing reckoning for top-down philanthropy. Yet, giving season guides and “charity navigator” recommendations still embrace problematic “gold standard” giving formulas to make recommendations. These formulas lack a critical indicator — humans. How much power should you assign to people: a people-power indicator? A lot. People shifting (or at least sharing) decision-making power around giving with those most systematically excluded from it is arguably our greatest opportunity to create change. And it’s currently missing from the commonly understood models of giving.
Is this our opening? The world seems to be looking for an alternative. We, in the Participatory Grantmakers (PGM) Community, know that participatory and community-driven giving practices are not new. But many (especially those in a position to give) are not aware. Yes, some ignore these alternatives to simply hold onto power, but not all. This might be our chance to set a new trajectory — for what, why, and how giving works.
Interestingly, the generosity and justice giving movements both recognize a common truth — those most frequently in a position to give are often least likely to understand what is most needed. The difference lies in our attempts to “solve” this problem. Few in the PGM community would claim that participatory philanthropy will save us. Many of us recognize that flipping the dynamic to ensure that those most impacted are deciding (or at least participating in) how resources are spent, won’t solve all things. However, we do know that sanitized giving formulas and top-down approaches are not solving root causes of harm and are instead limiting and likely hurting our ability to make long lasting fundamental change.
What we, as PGM community, must ask ourselves
Can we use our collective power to make it as easy for people in a position to donate to seek participatory and community-driven funds instead? Can we do this without diluting the practice? Can we collectively make it easier to move money differently now, while also doing the harder work of reimagining, dismantling and reassembling what it takes to create change?
When it comes to those who give, I’m not so worried about the $25 your grandma gave after watching a heart wrenching (exploitative) television advert. However, what about the bigger checks written quickly at the end of the year to spend-down discretionary funds? Or to meet year-end corporate social responsibility goals? Only “trusted” and known organizations will see that money.
In the PGM community, we talk a lot about how bias and prejudice influences who is perceived as trusted and deemed “worthy” of receiving funds or investments. So no, we don’t just have a communications issue. Our issues won’t be solved if we band together and get our message appeal right. Unless your grandma, local businesses and foundations are already in the know about participatory and community-based organizations, they won’t know how to give differently — even if they are disenchanted with the traditional giving models they once believed were good.
In a conversation with Derek Bardowell, CEO of Ten Years Time and author of Giving Back: How to do Good Better, we discussed that it is possible to maintain authenticity while bringing more people into this way of giving. What if we can collectively do for participatory and community-driven funds what bookshop.org has done for local bookshops? They’ve developed a platform that gives independent bookstores a chance to compete and maintain their presence in their local communities. Now is our chance to do the same.
Derek and I highlighted a couple of stand out organizations you can add to your improved, human giving guides this year — like Baobab Foundation, Black Feminist Fund, Sisters Uncut, The Pathway Fund, Disability Rights Fund, FRIDA Fund, Red Umbrella Fund, Camden Giving, Children Rights Innovation Fund and of course the PGM Community too!
You can watch our conversation here.
Want to contribute to building upon and improving these ideas? Maybe make this prediction a reality? Join the community, jump into our active Slack group, or join our open houses to discuss! We can start to build upon our collective power — 1,000 members and growing across 73 countries — to make this a reality!
Emily Sullivan (she/her) works as a partner and consultant to organizations and foundations working to advance rights and health equity. She is a Participatory Grantmakers Consensus Circle Member.
