When I was twenty, in the cramped bedroom of my grandmother’s house, my father shared with me that he was considering suicide. With mounting gambling debts, he felt he would be worth more dead than alive. That harrowing, formative experience indelibly shaped my long-term relationship with money. At the time of this confession, I was a Harvard student, regularly called into the Dean’s office because my tuition payments were late. Yet, outside the Dean’s office, I was living, working, and playing alongside the next generation of the world’s most financially elite. These profound, early experiences with both scarcity and abundance highlight a core challenge for our sector: embracing philanthropic capital.

Many of the most brilliant movement and philanthropic leaders carry complicated personal histories with wealth and poverty. This can unintentionally lead us to undersell the true cost and financial infrastructure required for the societal change we are committed to creating.

To build a better, more resilient society for our children, we must collectively overcome this pervasive hesitation about embracing philanthropic capital—this institutional ambivalence—about asking for and holding significant, sustained capital.

Consider the world of political fundraising. During the 2024 election cycle, Kamala Harris emerged as a powerful force, raising $1 billion and continuing to solicit donations in the days following the election. Similarly, President-elect Trump sent texts multiple times a day to sell me an Elon Musk-style MAGA hat.

Even those seeking the most powerful office in the land are constantly and unapologetically asking for money. This kind of transparent, constant invitation for investment is the standard we must meet today to achieve our goals.

For grantmakers, fundraisers, and leaders alike, a clear, unified stance on capital is essential. We should all be able to answer with a definitive Yes to these critical questions to embrace philanthropic capital:

  • Do we want to raise a lot of money to propel our mission forward? Yes.
  • Should our organizations pursue endowments and healthy reserves for stability? Yes.
  • Should donors be invited to invest in both specific programs and the overall organizational infrastructure? Yes.
  • Should we make really big, visionary asks? Yes.
  • Should we ask our constituents and community members to give, affirming their ownership? Yes.

Read the full article about embracing philanthropic capital by Denise Padín Collazo at PEAK Grantmaking.