The 2023-2024 Fellows Projects
A New Era of Philanthropy: How We Fund in Times of Crisis and Opportunity
By Dimple Abichandani
The exploration:
My fellowship project was inspired by a big question: what is a philanthropy for our times, one that can meet this moment of polycrisis? We are living in consequential times and there has been a growing sense that the philanthropic tools, mindsets and practices that have long characterized the sector are ill suited for these times. The question at the heart of my fellowship project/book is, how can we take this infrastructure of philanthropy (with its growing resources) and repurpose it to the meet the moment we live in, to shift who has power and wealth and to go beyond covering over (or gilding) unjust systems to actually transforming them.
The outcome:
The outcome of this exploration is a forthcoming book I authored, A New Era of Philanthropy, that offers ten practices for a philanthropy that meets this moment by transforming wealth into a more just and sustainable future. A New Era tells a story of a new and emerging philanthropy, one that is fundamentally different in purpose, story and practice from the first 140 years of modern philanthropy. The book is organized into ten chapters, each focused on reimagining a key philanthropic practice, from investments to governance to grantmaking to crisis funding and beyond. The book offers a blueprint for how we can use the excess wealth of our times to build a future in which all communities flourish.
The process:
Writing a book is an immersive and multi-stage process. As a new author, I am grateful for all that I learned during this fellowship, both about my subject matter and about writing. My chapter on reimagining governance is a good example of how this book advances effective family philanthropy. In my field interviews governance was repeatedly identified as a blocker of progress, rather than a facilitator of it. Existing resources about philanthropic governance tend to focus on fiduciary duties, bylaws and other legalistic norms. I took a different and deeper approach, exploring how power, accountability and identity operate in philanthropic governance. In the chapter I offer historical grounding to help us understand how we arrived at a private foundation governance model that is characterized by low proximity, accountability and transparency. Drawing from interviews with trustees and staff, I identify a set of barriers to effective governance as well as practice breakthroughs that boards can make. I have been sharing this content and research with family foundation boards to support their evolution towards more impactful philanthropy.
Related resources and information:
You can read more about “A New Era of Philanthropy” here and order the book. My book website will be complete in early December.
In addition, during my fellowship I published two opinion pieces:
Funding Rural Podcast
By Erin Borla
The exploration:
How can philanthropy better serve rural and remote communities and spark systemic change?
In the latest study, as shared by the FSG report in 2021 only 7 percent of philanthropic dollars, nationally, goes toward rural America; and only 0.4 percent supports Native-led or Native-serving projects (Native Americans in Philanthropy 2019).
My goal with this project was to elevate stories of hope and resilience from rural and Indigenous spaces, and to provide resources to inspire and prepare philanthropists to increase their understanding of impacting these communities.
The outcome:
We have indicators of the growing awareness of the need to support rural and Indigenous spaces.
The podcast landing pages had more than 2,400 visitors during season 1, with more than 4,200 page views, which tells us people are interested and returning to learn more. Season 1 brought more than 3,700 listeners on Spotify, which is one of the many listening platforms.
Since launch, I have accepted invitations to speak or moderate panels at gatherings where the messages of Funding Rural could resonate including the Biodiversity Funders Group, Affiliated Tribes of NW Indians – Economic Development Corporation Conference, and others.
The podcast earned media attention in The Daily Yonder, a national online publication from the Center for Rural Strategies, and in two esteemed publications that speak to the audiences we most want to influence: Inside Philanthropy and The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
The process:
I worked with accomplished podcast producer Ashley Ahearn to record Funding Rural, hone the messaging, and dial in the interviews. I then collaborated with a communications team to develop a launch campaign. We used numerous marketing channels including guerilla marketing, email marketing, digital and social media. We also did targeted media outreach.
I never want these stories to be about me—the point is to elevate others who are doing inspiring things—but I realized that I need to leverage my platform as the Roundhouse Foundation’s executive director and start posting and sharing these stories on social media: LinkedIn in particular. Through steady content sharing, I’ve gained more than 1,000 followers, which helps to amplify the stories on the podcast and the organizations supported by Roundhouse Foundation and others doing impactful work in rural and remote areas.
Learn more:
- Learn more about Funding Rural and listen to the podcast here.
