Perspective

Grassroots Grantmaking

A Compounding Funding Crisis Threatening Global Movements

Behind closed boardroom doors, a quiet transformation is reshaping the human rights funding landscape

Rachel Thomas & Kellea Miller

Grassroots Grantmaking

Is the Era of Foundation Dominance Coming to a Close?

Philanthropic Beltway discourse centers foundations. But money is increasingly flowing elsewhere

Jan Masaoka

Grassroots Grantmaking

We're Building Kingdoms. Community-Centric Fundraising Demands We Build Movements.

The sector's obsession with organizational survival is the very thing preventing the change we exist to create.

Maria Rio

Dignity by Design: A New Architecture for International Aid

We need to design for collaboration and shared outcomes

Alía Tall-Khatib

Seeding Power

Redesigning Finance from the Ground Up

We need to put farmers and ecosystems at the center of food systems finance

Laura Thompson

Seeding Power

Supporting the Food Sovereignty Movement Over the Long Haul Takes Solidarity Philanthropy

The movement has built itself on global long-term vision – will allied funders get on board?

Chung-Wha Hong and Saulo Araujo

Architects of the Future: How Young Feminist Artists Are Leading Cultural Change

Jody Myrum and Erin Lynn Williams

To Restore the Middle Class, We Need More Owners

An excerpt from Capital Evolution: The New American Economy

Seth Levine and Elizabeth MacBride

Community Philanthropy

What The Global South House Reveals About Power and Philanthropy at COP30

Inside an architecture of collaboration built by Global South networks

Paula Tanscheit

Grassroots Grantmaking

Reimagining Giving for Animal Protection – a Trust-Based Approach

Why trust, not algorithms, will shape the future of animal advocacy

Ondine Sherman

Proximate Investing

Reclaiming Place: the Kensington Corridor Trust Model

A Philadelphia neighborhood trust shows how local ownership can build lasting community strength

Sandhya Nakhasi

Grassroots Grantmaking

Wherefore Participatory Grantmaking in the Age of Urgency?

Care about democracy? Make it part of your grantmaking process

Cynthia Gibson and Kelley Buhles

Donor Advising

Setting the Philanthropic Advising Field Free

Philanthropy doesn’t need more gatekeepers – it needs open source information

Molly Judge

Don't Say We Didn't Tell You

Democracy reimagined by youth-led movements in the Global Majority

Maheen Kaleem, Jody Myrum, Laura Vergara

Proximate Investing

Who Controls Capital? Jewish Teachings on Debt and Justice

An excerpt from "Put Your Money Where Your Soul Is"

Rabbi Jacob Siegel

Grassroots Grantmaking

When Communities Lead, Violence Falls

A perspective from South Africa on why the solution to violence needs to be rooted in community

Busiswa Dayimani

Grassroots Grantmaking

Dreaming as Resistance

What happens when Dalit girls reimagine the world

Priyanka Samy

Grassroots Grantmaking

Words Matter: Especially When They Carry the Weight of History

Words shape funding flows, policy priorities, and which ideas are seen as “investable”

Babita Patel

Grassroots Grantmaking

The Creative and Political Power of Dreaming

(Re)Imagining the world through the eyes of girls

Juliana Román Lozano

Proximate Investing

The Next Fight for New York City: Who Controls the Money?

Making Mamdani’s vision governable through community control over public capital

Ayushi Vig

Seeding Power

We’re Not Intermediaries. We’re Infrastructure.

Activist funds aren’t just middlemen. We're part of the movement.

Maria Amália Souza

Seeding Power

What If We Funded Agroecology Differently?

Six Global South funds are modeling a more rooted and relational way to move money

Paula Tanscheit

How We Gather

We Can Do Public Meetings Better

Disastrous town hall meetings are becoming a familiar part of the American fabric. It doesn’t have to be that way

Susan Charland

A New Lifeline for Nonprofits and Movements: Why It's Time to Consider the PBC model

With social impact organizations under attack, the Public Benefit Corporation route has never been timelier

Michael Gilligan

Aprofundando a Filantropia

Filantropia na blockchain

A fundadora da Grapevine fala sobre como os DAOs e os círculos de doação se cruzam cada vez mais

Emily Rasmussen (tradução e reflexão final: Joana Mortari)

Proximate Brasil

'Ensuring that the Community Endures'

Challenges and opportunities for territorial philanthropy and Buen Vivir

Renata Saavedra

Proximate Brasil

'Garantir que a comunidade permaneça'

Desafios e oportunidades para uma filantropia territorial e pelo bem viver

Renata Saavedra

Common Ground

How Fiscal Sponsors Can Help Nonprofits Survive Political Threats

Take these eight steps today to prepare new structures of support

Thaddeus Squire

Donor Advising

When Trust-Busting Leads to Trust Building

The story of how I discovered my trust fund — and had to fight to give it away

Susanna Penfield

Proximate Brasil

Crossroads of Legacies: Experimenting with Flow Funding in Brazil

A donor and a flow funder share their views on philanthropy, autonomy and reparations

Caroline Amanda and Camila Haddad

Grassroots Grantmaking

Parenting As a Blueprint for Participatory Work

"Because I said so" is not an effective parenting strategy, and it fails as a philanthropic approach as well

Rozella Kennedy

Proximate East Africa

How I Lost Respect Doing Community-Led Work

Jonathan Kifunda on the challenges of returning to his community from an international NGO

Jonathan Kifunda

Beyond Elections

We Need a ‘Just Transition’ from One Democracy to Many

We need to move to a healthy ecosystem of diverse democracies

Josh Lerner

Proximate East Africa

Beyond Feel-Good: Funding Faceless Impact

We need to invest time, resources, and knowledge in local leaders and communities to support them

Margot Hinchey

State of Assembly

Let’s Integrate Participatory Budgeting and Citizens’ Assemblies

The two most important democratic innovations of the last 30 years have developed in parallel but not in unison

Nick Vlahos

Proximate Brasil

O campo filantrópico precisa confiar nos verdadeiros especialistas

A reação à filantropia baseada na confiança veio à tona. É hora de os líderes doadores de base comunitária responderem.

Cynthia M. Gibson, Lisa Pilar Cowan, Jocelynne Rainey & Joana Ribeiro Mortari

Proximate Brasil

The Canoes of Community Philanthropy in Brazil

Canoes working together are better than boats with just one captain; so too with philanthropy

Diane Pereira Sousa

Grassroots Grantmaking

From self-assessment tools to resources on how to do the inner work, there's a lot of help out there

What I Learned from Reading 175 Participatory Grantmaking Resources

Kelley Buhles

Proximate Brasil

Investindo em pessoas que transformam realidades

Canoas trabalhando juntas são melhores do que um barco com apenas um capitão; assim também é a filantropia

Diane Pereira Sousa

Grassroots Grantmaking

Philanthropy Needs to Trust the Real Experts — The People It Supports

Backlash to trust-based philanthropy has come out into the open; it's time for grassroots grantmaking leaders to respond

Cynthia M. Gibson, Lisa Pilar Cowan & Jocelynne Rainey

Grassroots Grantmaking

Four PIeces of Advice for Participatory Grantmakers In Aotearoa New Zealand

Be prepared to bend your own rules – and be prepared for transformation

Lani Evans and Christina Howard

Community-Driven Journalism

How The Seventh Wave Curates Our Calls For Submissions

The Seattle literary magazine uses a participatory process to set editorial strategy

Joyce Chen and Bretty Rawson

Community-Driven Journalism

Excerpt: Our Brave Foremothers in Community-Driven Journalism

A look at three women in American history who paved the way for people-powered media

Rozella Kennedy

Grassroots Grantmaking

Philanthropy on the Blockchain

Grapevine’s founder on how DAOs and giving circles intersect

Emily Rasmussen

Grassroots Grantmaking

How We Did It: Building the PGM Community of Practice

A reflection on the growth of the 1,500-person participatory grantmaking community

Hannah Paterson

Grassroots Grantmaking

Growing #ShiftThePower in Kenya will drive more durable development

A movement is growing in Kenya to shift power to communities

Wanjiru Kanyiha and Elizaphan Ogechi

Grassroots Grantmaking

Participatory Grantmaking Changed My Mind About Sex Work

A personal essay about the power of connection – and the possibility of growth

Rose Longhurst