Community-centered philanthropy: shifting power to local leaders
Philanthropy is evolving from top-down grantmaking toward approaches that center community expertise, trust, and long-term relationships. Rather than treating funding as a one-way transaction, leading donors and foundations are embracing strategies that build local capacity, reduce administrative friction, and allow communities to define success on their own terms.
Why community-centered philanthropy matters
Communities closest to a problem often have the best solutions. Local leaders understand cultural nuance, political dynamics, and where small investments can unlock outsized impact. When funders defer to that knowledge, interventions are more relevant, sustainable, and equitable. Community-centered philanthropy also helps address historical power imbalances, enabling marginalized voices to influence priorities and outcomes.
Core principles to guide giving
– Trust-based funding: Prioritize general operating support, multi-year commitments, and simplified reporting. Trust-based grants let organizations allocate resources where they’re most needed rather than conforming to rigid project budgets.
– Participatory grantmaking: Involve community members in decisions about who receives funding and why. This approach increases transparency and aligns investments with lived experience.
– Capacity building: Invest in leadership development, technology, financial systems, and evaluation skills. Strong infrastructure helps small organizations scale responsibly and weather funding volatility.
– Equity and inclusion: Apply an equity lens to grant criteria, outreach, and partnership norms. Consider barriers that prevent smaller organizations—often led by people of color or from rural communities—from accessing funding.
– Flexible measurement: Co-create success metrics with grantees that reflect community priorities. Blend quantitative indicators with qualitative stories to capture nuanced impact.
Practical steps for donors
– Start with listening: Hold community forums, advisory panels, or informal conversations before designing programs. Listening builds credibility and surfaces needs that data alone may miss.
– Simplify the application process: Limit lengthy proposals, accept alternative formats, and streamline due diligence.
Reducing administrative burden increases access for smaller groups.
– Offer unrestricted support: General operating grants allow organizations to invest in talent, rent, or technology—areas often underserved by project-specific funds.
– Cultivate long-term partnerships: Move beyond one-off awards. Multi-year funding enables strategic planning and institutional resilience.
– Experiment responsibly: Pilot new models at modest scale, learn from failures, and share findings openly.
How nonprofits can respond
Nonprofits should articulate clear strategies, but also be transparent about uncertainties. Use evaluation to learn, not just to prove.
Build relationships with funders around shared goals and report on outcomes in accessible ways that highlight both achievements and lessons learned.
Technology and transparency
Digital tools make it easier to match funders with community needs and reduce overhead through streamlined application platforms and donor portals. Transparency—about decision-making, grants awarded, and evaluation methods—builds trust across the ecosystem and attracts more diverse support.
A practical mindset for lasting change
Shifting power does not mean abandoning expertise; it means combining the strengths of funders, practitioners, and community leaders.
Philanthropy that centers local knowledge, funds flexibly, and invests in capacity can unlock meaningful, sustained progress. Donors willing to listen, adapt, and share control will find that their capital goes further and that communities are better positioned to thrive.
Take the next step: listen to local leaders, simplify processes, and prioritize flexible, long-term support. Small shifts in practice can produce outsized returns for communities and the causes that serve them.