Giving Compass' Take:

• Peak Grantmaking discusses how it helps funders build skills in principled grantmaking, which is considered a productive and successful approach to philanthropy. 

• How does feedback play a role in determining the best grantmaking practices? 

• Here are six principles for foundation leaders. 

For philanthropy to realize its potential, we need to move from talking to action. Let’s act on big ideas like equity and inclusion, narrowing the power gap in our sector, being authentically engaged in our communities, listening and learning from our partners, and living out our values in our practice.

The Principles for Peak Grantmaking help funders take that action, so that the practice of philanthropy becomes the practice of principled grantmaking.

These principles were created by and for our members. Our members are the leaders who have the power to bring tangible, real-life, and practical implementation to these big ideas. Our members have nearly three decades of coming together as a community, not to celebrate the status quo, but in a quest for more efficient, effective, and equitable practices. Let’s embrace these principled practices on behalf of our organizations and our grantees.

Leading practice change in my organization wasn’t easy. I built strong written and verbal communication skills. I developed a toolkit of persuasive arguments to gain buy-in for change. I invited myself to meetings (capitalizing on my colleagues’ reluctance to be rude and tell me no). Sometimes I had to slow down (not my favorite speed) and give my colleagues time to process my recommended changes. I was resilient and did not give up, waiting for new opportunities (and sometimes new staff) to push practice improvement. I didn’t think about it at the time, but all of that took courage.

In my current role leading PEAK Grantmaking, I’m privileged to now look beyond a single organization and envision what philanthropy could look like with a collective burst of courage. We can shed outdated policies that erode rather than build trust between grantmakers and grantseekers. We can root our practices in our values to “walk the talk” and show up authentically in the world.

Read the full article about grantmaking principle practices by Michelle Greanias at PEAK Grantmaking.