The COVID-19 pandemic fast-tracked much-needed changes in the philanthropic sector, with funders increasing funds, providing more flexibility, and generally reducing the burdens on grantees.
“The question now is: Was that a blip or will this be sustained?” Phil Buchanan, president at the Center for Effective Philanthropy, said Thursday at a Devex event on the sidelines of the 76th United Nations General Assembly.
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Some default behaviors were rethought during this time of crisis, panelists said. For example, philanthropists were more likely to give more unrestricted funding, increase their spending levels, and loosen restrictions for how the money was used. Still, further change is needed, they said.
The pandemic coincided with a reckoning on inequity across the philanthropic sector, fueled by the Black Lives Matter movement.
This has led to some “window dressing” in which funders might take steps to look like they are addressing a problem without dealing with the deeper issues, said Dedo N. Baranshamaje, director of strategy in Africa for the Segal Family Foundation.
He noted that while funders may, for example, launch new portfolios supporting local actors, it is more difficult for them to “really shift the power.” He called for more support of “proximate leaders who are close to the problems they are trying to solve.”
Funders must “include people who historically have not been included” and expand their definition of expertise to account for how effective it is to support local organizations that have built trust in communities, Baranshamaje added.
From the pandemic to the global fight for racial equity to the climate crisis, collaboration will be critical, as these problems are too complex for any one funder to solve, said Heather Grady, vice president at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
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She noted collaboration as one of three major changes she has seen in philanthropy over the past 18 months. Other changes include foundations finding new ways of bringing in capital, as the Ford Foundation is doing by issuing bonds to double its grantmaking, rather than “sitting on too many assets that have been unused for social purpose.”
Finally, conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion are going further than they have before, she said, quoting a colleague who mentioned “we’re moving from talking about safe spaces to brave spaces.”
The COVID-19 pandemic also presented an opportunity to rethink scale in social impact, Buchanan said.
“We all saw nonprofits step up in such dramatic ways and we saw some of the default business framework-y analogies of the last couple of decades blow up amid the realization that, for example, sometimes for a nonprofit — smallness is an asset — because smallness is community connection and trust and community rootedness, so it’s not always about scale,” he said.
About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.
