Deciding to deepen your learning on a new subject can feel daunting and overwhelming. Where do you start? How do you ensure you’re learning from the right sources? How can you hold yourself accountable for continuing to learn?

Throughout my time at TPI, I’ve worked with several funders who decided to embark on “learning journeys”. The exciting element for me has been that while each funder’s reasons for the journey and the questions they asked at the outset are unique and personal to each one, the process strengthens funders in universal, powerful ways.

Journeying to Understand the Needs of Grantee Partners Builds Deeper Relationships

For a few years, I’ve worked with a family seeking to understand their role in the greater philanthropic landscape, specifically supporting youth development. They recognized the power dynamics inherent in funder-grantee relationships, and they asked themselves: From our position as trustees of a family-run, mid-sized donor-advised fund, how can we help strengthen communities and make them more equitable and just? Some of their initial ideas focused on changes to things such as their pace of giving and how they build relationships with grantees.

Assessing their funding footprint as a first step, the donors asked key questions about the groups and organizations they fund in order to dig into inequities:

  • Are they led by community members and/or people of color?
  • Do they nurture leadership from within the organization?
  • How do they pay and support staff, youth leaders, and interns?
  • What is their board composition?
  • How might they encourage and make possible supportive, opt-in learning communities and sharing of resources across nonprofit groups with comparable missions or constituencies (e.g., social-emotional health supports for youth, transportation, facilities)?

Read the full article about learning journeys by Robin Baird at The Philanthropic Initiative.