By Rachel Humphrey, TCC Group
In her previous post, Rachel introduced us to The HOW Fund and the firsthand experiences that shaped its international grants. Here she discusses a key ingredient for success in international giving—and one that applies to domestic grantmaking as well: creating fair, equitable relationships.
The right question is not “What can I do for you?” It is “What can I do with you?”
When I worked at the Global Fund for Women (GFW), one of our mantras was, “How we do our work is as important as what we do.”
This resulted in a grantmaking program that very deliberately trusted and respected grantees’ expertise and decisions, including providing general operating support. We operated without deadlines and accepted unsolicited proposals in any language and any format.
On site visits in Kyrgyzstan and Morocco, I witnessed firsthand the impact of our approach on the relationships between GFW and its grantees. Grantees always set GFW apart from their other funders and described GFW’s support as “much more than money.” They also felt comfortable enough to provide candid feedback on GFW’s work, and often shared their programs’ failures and challenges as freely as their successes.
Although the funder–grantee power dynamic certainly did not disappear, the playing field for these grantees was a bit more level than with other funders.
What can small-staff philanthropy take from this example?
