Participatory Grantmaking: Has Its Time Come?

PARTICIPATORY GRANTMAKING: HAS ITS TIME COME? Cynthia Gibson Table of Contents Foreword by Chris Cardona ........................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4 PART ONE. Participation Comes to Philanthropy ............................................................ 7 What’s Driving the Call for More Participation in Philanthropy? ........................... 7 How Has Philanthropy Evolved in Its Understanding (and Use) of Participation? .................................................................................................................. 10 What are Some Participatory Models and Frameworks That Are Being Tried in Philanthropy? .................................................................................. 14 What are the Barriers to Broader Adoption of Participatory Grantmaking by Philanthropy? ........................................................................................ 18 How Can Philanthropy Move to Consensus About the Practice — and Benefts — of Participatory Grantmaking? ........................................................... 21 PART TWO. Lessons About Participation from Outside Philanthropy ....................... 24 What Can Philanthropy Learn from Fields Engaged in Deep Work on Participation? ................................................................................................................. 25 What Are Some Participatory Models and Frameworks Developed Outside Philanthropy? ....................................................................................................... 28 PART THREE. A “Starter” Framework for Participatory Grantmaking ....................... 30 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 41 Appendix: Participatory Grantmaking Examples ...................................................................... 43 PARTICIPATORY GRANTMAKING 2 Foreword he Ford Foundation has long supported eforts that ing. Both the guide and this paper have been informed Tactivate the voice and leadership of communities and enriched by a working group of participatory experiencing economic, social, political, or cultural ex- grantmakers convened by the Human Rights Funders clusion. As our current President Darren Walker said in Network and its European counterpart, Ariadne. We are a commencement address at Johns Hopkins University, grateful for their insight. William Woodwell provided a “there is no better defender of the vulnerable than civil deft editorial touch in the latter stages. society: committed, compassionate, engaged citizens organizing themselves — and mobilizing others — to While this paper has been in the works for some time, work on behalf of others.” Such self-organizing and it seems especially timely in the current moment. mobilization are central to disrupting inequality, which As Cynthia notes in the Introduction, we are seeing lies at the heart of our work. “heightened demand for greater accountability and transparency” as people become “more distrustful of As a grantmaking institution with national and global established institutions,” including foundations them- presence, we have long supported groups that seek selves. Across sectors, elite-driven, top-down deci- to improve the practice of philanthropy itself, so that sion-making is increasingly viewed with suspicion if not funders are more equitable and inclusive in their prac- hostility. Foundations are vulnerable to such suspicion tices, leading to greater efectiveness of their giving. and may court hostility, if they are not willing to exam- Our current strategy in this area is based on the belief ine their own decision-making practices, and who is that if philanthropic decision-makers do not have involved in them. sufcient connection or access to the lived experience of the people we seek to beneft, the quality of our de- Beyond this short-term reason for considering par- cision-making will sufer and our impact and legitimacy ticipatory approaches, there are longer-term benefts will be lessened. Therefore, our grantmaking seeks to that bear attention: better knowledge, closer connec- enable foundations to practice deeper inclusion, both tion, deeper insight, greater accountability, increased on their boards and stafs, and in how they engage accessibility. The paper delves into these and other outside stakeholders. reasons, and frames a key question for philanthropy to consider: Has the time come for a broad swath of foun- As we explore how foundations can practice deeper dations, including national foundations like Ford, to inclusion in how they engage outside stakeholders, we take on participatory approaches? If self-organizing and are pleased to support this paper by Cynthia Gibson, mobilization by committed, compassionate, engaged Ph.D., on participatory grantmaking approaches by citizens are key to civil society defending the vulnera- U.S. foundations. Cynthia is a long-time student and ble, then perhaps they should be central to the practice practitioner of participatory approaches, having been of philanthropy as well. involved with seminal eforts by the Case Foundation and other philanthropic organizations, as well as those We view this as a question worth a deep dive in the in the deliberative governance and civic engagement feld and ofer this paper as a contribution to that end. felds. She is also working with the Foundation Center We look forward, along with others considering these to develop a GrantCraft guide on the how-to of par- issues, to the evolving discussion. ticipatory grantmaking. We hope that this paper will Chris Cardona complement that guide, by providing historical context Program Ofcer, Philanthropy, Ford Foundation and theoretical grounding for participatory grantmak- PARTICIPATORY GRANTMAKING 3 Introduction he Ford Foundation commissioned this paper giving from within communities that existed long Tto explore participatory approaches, especially before philanthropy became professionalized have participatory grantmaking, and their potential use become more prominent. by foundations. The paper synthesizes several ex- isting participatory frameworks, identifes common Philanthropy and other felds also are being components, and applies these to philanthropy as a reshaped by the attitudes and capacities of a new “starter” framework that can, hopefully, be used as generation of young people who have grown up a springboard for ongoing discussion and develop- with the Internet and embrace its culture of trans- ment among grantmakers and non-grantmakers. parency and bottom-up action. Additionally, there is a growing awareness that many public challeng- Why Participation? es are exceedingly complex and won’t respond to one-shot solutions from experts or institutions During the past decade, all sectors of society have working on their own. faced heightened demand for greater accountability and transparency. People have become These and other trends refect a backlash against more distrustful of established institutions, they the “establishment” occurring in politics, higher are demanding more information about issues education, the media, and other felds in which and decisions afecting them and their families elite interests are perceived to have drowned out and communities, and they want more voice in the concerns of ordinary people. Americans of decision-making processes.1 Technological innova- all stripes and political persuasions have come to tion also has created new possibilities — and new believe they have little say in guiding public deci- pressures — for organizations and institutions to sions and improving the health and well-being of become more democratic by involving the public their communities. in their work. What’s Happening? Philanthropy is not immune from these trends. While for decades, philanthropy was seen as Public engagement and participatory practices are endowed foundations set up by the rich, recent hardly new. For decades, these approaches have years have seen a surge in crowdfunding, giving been core to the work of community organizing, circles, donor-advised funds, and a panoply of deliberative democracy and community develop- digital giving platforms that allow anyone to be ment, among other felds. The diference today is a philanthropist. Alongside these, traditions of that a broader range of organizations and sectors — from public management and environmental conservation to journalism and higher education 1 Leighninger, M. (2006). The next form of democracy: How — are taking a page from the participatory play- expert rule is giving way to shared governance -- and why politics will never be the same. Vanderbilt U. Press. Gibson, C. (2007). book and inviting the public to be more actively Citizens at the center: A new approach to civic engagement. involved in their work. Case Foundation. PARTICIPATORY GRANTMAKING 4 The move toward more public participation, What’s Next? however, is mostly an ad hoc phenomenon, with individual organizations and institutions embrac- More clarity about the what, why, and how of ing and testing new practices on their own. There participatory grantmaking will help create a is no common language to describe this work, and baseline for action and experimentation that can it has proven difcult to sustain. As a result,

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