FEBRUARY 2021

Dear , Happy New Year! The end of the year is often when we as philanthropists choose to make some of our biggest gifts or grants. The timing is triggered by the season of giving, year end compensation, and family conversations around the holidays. “So, now what?” I hear philanthropists ask often, “How do I know my gift is being used effectively? What impact am I having on a particular nonprofit and my community?” Impact and effectiveness are loaded words in the philanthropic field; I do not attempt to unpack them here. Rather, I would like to offer a path for philanthropists to achieve their desires for accountability and a well stewarded donation while also honoring the nonprofit to whom they’re giving. It is the notion of Trust Based Philanthropy.

Trust Based Philanthropy

Trust Based Philanthropy is not a new concept. It is one that has gained traction in recent years. At the heart of Trust Based Philanthropy are sound relationships between donors and nonprofits. There is an inherent belief that the nonprofit leadership is realizing its vision to the best of its abilities; the staff knows best how to plan, implement and measure its programs; and unrestricted support is needed to invest in programs and people to achieve those goals and have room to innovate and take risk.  So how do you know your gift is being effectively stewarded under this model? Where is the accountability? Here are some things to consider: Work to understand how nonprofit partners are measuring their impact.  Read the organizations' annual reports and communications; understand their financial health.  Get to know their staff and board leadership. Get proximate to the issues you care about and volunteer. Executive Director Ellen Friedman of the Compton Foundation asks their grantees receiving multi-year, unrestricted grants to record short videos for their board answering two questions, “What are you celebrating right now? What are you course correcting?”. These answers offer a window into an organization’s strategic thinking and impact while also creating space for relationship building.  There are many more elements of the Trust Based Philanthropy model that support healthy relationship building and accountability. You can read more about the basic principles here. Additional thoughts on the topic include: Center for Effective Philanthropy's Podcast "Making and Measuring Impact" interview with Tiffany Cooper- Gueye, COO of Blue Meridian Partners Dan Pallotta’s Ted Talk, “The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong”

Social Good Snapshot

Donors are curious about measuring their own philanthropic goals and imprint on their communities. They often ask for an analysis of their giving year over year. I have been working with Jillian Waggenheim of Sertus Consulting to develop a dashboard that captures a “snapshot” of an individual donor or family’s giving. We've rolled it out with several clients and plan to use it more widely in 2021 to help donors measure their giving. The Social Good Snapshot can be customized to capture exactly what is most important for a philanthropist to measure, and the dashboard is easily manipulated to drill down on particular data sets. Popular metrics include: Dollars allocated per value Timing of gifts Geographic spread Use of various giving vehicles Gifts by nonprofit sectors Volunteer hours donated

Aristotle sums up well the challenge and the opportunity for philanthropists: “To give money away is an easy matter and in any man’s power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how much, and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every man’s power or an easy matter.” Thoughtful philanthropy takes time and a genuine effort to nurture community ties. May 2021 bring you fruitful and productive relationships in your communities!

Gratefully, Kaky

KAKY M. GRANT / PRINCIPAL 843-276-3974 Kaky@grantphilanthropy.com www.grantphilanthropy.com