Participatory Grantmaking in Philanthropy

Cynthia Gibson is a consultant and adviser for leading US and international nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. Chris Cardona programmed the philanthropy portfolio and served on the BUILD team at the Ford Foundation from 2015 to 2023. Jasmine McGinnis Johnson is an associate professor of public policy and public administration in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at George Washington University. David Suárez is an associate professor at the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, University of Washington.

Introduction: Participatory Approaches to Philanthropy: The Distinct Role of Participatory GrantmakingCynthia M. Gibson, Chris Cardona, Jasmine McGinnis Johnson, and David Suárez

Part I: Mapping Participatory Grantmaking Practice

1. Institutional Change or Shooting Star? The Landscape of Stakeholder Participation among Large Foundations in the United StatesEmily Finchum-Mason, Kelly Husted, and David Suárez

2. From Collaboration to Ceding Power: The Impact of Participation on Grant DecisionsJasmine McGinnis Johnson

3. Participatory Grantmaking Practices among Women's Funds: What Has Been Learned?Elizabeth Barajas-Román and Mirenda Meghelli

Part II: Case Studies of Participatory Grantmaking in Action

4. Grounding Practice in a Movement's Principles: Why the Disability Rights Fund and the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund Continue to Prioritize ParticipationMelanie Kawano-Chiu and Jen Bokoff

5. The Haymarket People's Fund: Evaluating an Antiracist Grantmaking ModelEva King, Jaime Smith, and Kathryn Destin

6. Revolutionizing Philanthropy: Inclusive Participatory Processes in the New England Grassroots Environment FundBart Westdijk and Sarah Huang

7. Global Participatory Grantmaking: Through a Climate Justice LensLaura García and Teresa Odendahl

8. Participatory Grantmaking and Giving Traditions in Communities of Color: The CLLCTIVLY CaseStephanie Clintonia Boddie and Tracy R. Rone

Part III: The Challenges for and Limits of Participatory Grantmaking

9. Community Representation, COVID-19, and the Challenges of Shifting Grantmaking Power: How a Public LGBTQ+ Foundation Weighed the OptionsElizabeth J. Dale and Katie Carter

10. Community Foundations and Community Leadership: An Approach to Participatory PhilanthropyMelody MacLean, Caroline Merenda, and Len Bartel

11. "Participatoriness" in Philanthropy: A Conservative PerspectiveMichael E. Hartmann and William A. Schambra

12. What Will It Take to Change? Traditional Foundations and Megadonors Experiment with Participatory GrantmakingAnne Katahira with Marissa Jackson

Conclusion: Future Directions for Participatory Grantmaking Research and ImplementationChris Cardona, Cynthia M. Gibson, Jasmine McGinnis Johnson, and David Suárez

Editors' and Contributors' AffiliationsIndex