How Does Trust Show Up In Your Practice?
The Whitman Institute has been mildly obsessed with the concept of trust-based philanthropy for quite a while now. For us, this doesn’t just mean giving multi-year unrestricted grants (even though...
View ArticleFunder Spotlight: Swift Foundation
Swift Foundation, which predominantly funds Indigenous-led social justice efforts, is on a journey to reverse the Western-centric paradigm of philanthropy. Through their trust-based approach, they...
View ArticleFunder Spotlight: Satterberg Foundation
The Satterberg Foundation is a values-driven family foundation focused on promoting a just society and a sustainable environment. Several years ago, Satterberg’s leadership decided to transform its...
View Article8 Lessons in Collaborative Rapid Response Grantmaking
Last year, The Whitman Institute joined a group of foundations from around the country in a collaborative rapid response fund: Defending the Dream. While we were already doing our own rapid response...
View ArticleFunder Spotlight: International Women’s Health Coalition
When The International Women’s Health Coalition came across The Whitman Institute’s trust-based model two years ago, Program Officer Erin Williams instantly knew that the framework would help IWHC...
View ArticleFunder Spotlight: Latino Community Foundation
Latino Community Foundation (LCF) is breaking the old paradigms of community foundations by investing in building power—and partnership—among Latino donors and community leaders throughout California....
View ArticleFunder Spotlight: Hill-Snowdon Foundation
The Hill-Snowdon Foundation is a DC-based foundation committed to supporting grassroots movements for social justice by funding community organizing and leveraging dollars in support of targeted...
View ArticleSpend Out in Sight: What’s the Story?
In 2012 The Whitman Institute made the decision to spend out our endowment over 10 years. At the time, 2022 was a distant point on the horizon; now, not so much. What felt theoretical is becoming...
View ArticleIn the Face of a Pandemic, Foundations Adopt Trust-based Principles
Last week, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, several of the nation’s top foundations pledged to ease or eliminate restrictions on grants, reduce asks of grantees, and support and uplift the...
View Article(Re) Centering love for people in philanthropy
Jamie Allison is Executive Director of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund and has served on the board of trustees of The Whitman Institute since 2014. I have worked in philanthropy for two decades and...
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