Our work is not serving communities as well as we think. This may not be the message you’d expect from a corporate-social-responsibility leader. But we are fooling ourselves if we think we can understand and address complex, multifaceted social challenges in the same way a company approaches putting more cell phones or hamburgers in the hands of customers.

The entry point for philanthropy is othering. The problem is the framework we use, whereby funders “give” and communities “receive.” This perspective muddles the fact that communities hold the solutions and wisdom necessary for effective change. Without community knowledge, context, and relationships, funders would not be able to make progress on issues we care about.

For nearly a decade, the T. Rowe Price Foundation has worked to transform the ways we partner with community organizations. While our journey is ongoing, we have clarity on the essential role that community wisdom plays in leading our work. As a corporate leader practicing trust-based philanthropy principles for nearly nine years, I would like to share the lessons we have learned and our framework for carrying out trust-based corporate funding.

Some foundations claim to be trust-based while relying on practices that harm local communities, such as an overreliance on evaluation approaches that burden their grantees. Trust-based philanthropy is inherently difficult because it challenges traditional, hierarchical power dynamics. In considering how to walk a trust-based path, I suggest the following takeaways to my fellow corporate funders:

  • Funders must have a power analysis. Funders often gloss over an important fact: Our work happens within power structures. It can be uncomfortable for funders to interrogate their own power, which might explain why many avoid the subject. But skipping this step undermines our work with communities and our mission.
  • Listen to communities to inform your grantmaking. When we began connecting in person with our community partners, we realized that many were asking for support to strengthen the health of their organizations. We started a capacity-building program that has served more than 800 nonprofit organizations and more than 7,000 nonprofit leaders. A council of community members guides this work, providing feedback on how we can better assist the community.
  • Recognize and use all your assets. Trust-based approaches require engaging in continuous self-reflection to break down power dynamics. By examining our own resources and listening to what communities were asking for, we ensured that our support extended beyond grant dollars.

Read the full article about corporate social good by John Brothers at Stanford Social Innovation Review.