By Andy Carroll, Exponent Philanthropy

Funders with few or no staff provide leadership by using their many assets, and their influence, to address important issues in communities.

A surprising thing is that leadership is seldom planned; instead, philanthropists step up to leadership through a journey that begins with passion for an issue, and a desire to learn everything about that issue. Leadership is something that unfolds, a journey that takes philanthropists to places they never imagined they’d go.

A Time for Leadership 

Never has leadership been so needed. Diverse forces and trends are reshaping communities and our society, changing the demands on philanthropy.

• There is growing recognition that many of the problems philanthropists address are complex, difficult to understand, and impossible to solve by one funder or nonprofit at a time. Many are calling for a more collective approach.

• Many complex problems such as hunger, homelessness, and economic insecurity are only increasing in size and scope.

• Public funding is declining for schools, child care centers, human service organizations, arts groups, and other nonprofits that funders value and support. Many in the philanthropic sector are now openly acknowledging that private dollars cannot make up for the cuts in government support.

In this landscape of scarcity and growing needs, giving in the traditional ways cannot address the demands. By stepping into leadership roles, philanthropists uncover the potential for much greater, catalytic impact.

What do changing times and challenges call us to do as philanthropists?

Use your freedom and agility to listen and respond. Take time to step back, engage your grantees, and ask them the powerful question, What do you need? You have the agility to shift resources quickly to help organizations meet rising demands. If grantees need general operating support or capacity building, you have the ability to respond.

Develop knowledge and insight. You have the freedom and broad perspective to look across your community and pinpoint the most important and neglected problems. Few have your position to do this. You can take time to listen to people who have promising ideas, and get those ideas noticed. You can commission research about an issue and publicize it to catch the public’s attention.

Use your power to mobilize. The model that philanthropy has followed for decades, with individual funders working in isolation, is poorly suited to the scope and complexity of current issues. You are positioned in society as few others to bring together people from all sectors—business, government, academia, nonprofits—to identify the most important problems, share knowledge, develop solutions together, and build collective forces.

Fund advocacy. Your grantees know the issues they work on better than anyone. They are in a terrific position to influence policy around those issues, but many don’t have the resources or blessing of their funders to do so. Provide support for advocacy, and encourage your grantees to have a place at the policy table.

Use your power to speak out and advocate. Your voice as a philanthropist carries great weight. Most philanthropists don’t recognize this, or shy away from it. Speak out about urgent issues you care about. Your voice can bring attention and resources, and help mobilize others. Talk with your elected officials about important community issues.

The deep challenges of our times call upon donors and foundations to be not only financiers, but knowledge creators and analysts, convenors, connectors, advocates, brokers, mobilizers, catalysts, and movement builders.

Bold leadership by funders is perfectly attuned, and desperately needed, by a changing world.

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Senior Program Director Andy Carroll writes resources, designs workshops, and facilitates seminars for funders. Andy also dedicates a significant portion of his time to managing our Leadership Initiative that defines, validates, nurtures, and celebrates the many ways philanthropists lead. Andy has 25 years of experience in nonprofit organizations, and he enjoys talking with funders about their questions, interests, passions, and plans for making a difference.