6 Strategies to democratise your grantmaking

Philanthropy, unfortunately, is no stranger to socioeconomic inequality, one-sided control of charitable resources as well as insufficient funding of projects for social change. 

This can lead to a funding ecosystem favours some grantees over others. This can cause opportunities for innovation to be missed, important insights overlooked and the social impact of charitable donations diminished. 

What can we do? Democratise grantmaking.     

What does it mean to democratise grantmaking?

Democratising grantmaking means redistributing power over the decision-making and resources in philanthropy with the ultimate goal of making the grant awarding process more equitable, inclusive and accessible. 

The concept of democratising philanthropy is deeply rooted in the understanding that philanthropic efforts can achieve their full potential if they’re open to a wider and more diverse pool of stakeholders. It emphasises expanding decision-making authority and funding projects that align with the actual needs of the community. 

How to democratise your grantmaking

1. Adopt a social justice framework

To successfully democratise your grantmaking, it’s a good idea to have a social justice framework in place. Such a framework recognises the inherent inequities prevalent in grantmaking and makes a proactive effort to forestall them. Having an innate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy, the structure ensures that historically underfunded nonprofits have the opportunity for necessary support. 

With a social justice framework comes shared governance. Shared governance is a cooperative approach to philanthropy that puts power in the hands of an advisory board as opposed to individual funders. This advisory board is made up of experts representing the actual makeup of the community as much as possible.

Under this arrangement, grantmakers and local experts collaborate in the decision-making process and fund management. The result is a democratised grantmaking process. 

2. Implement participatory grantmaking

Conversations about democratising philanthropic gestures must involve participatory grantmaking. But what exactly does this mean? 

Participatory grantmaking is a practice that puts power in the hands of the people directly affected. It enables the relevant members of the community to exercise grantmaking power as they deem fit, choosing who and what to fund. This easily promotes diversity, equity and inclusion in all stages of grantmaking and allows greater funding at the local level.

Participatory grantmaking benefits both the affected community and also the funding organisation as it helps the latter better align with the needs of the local communities. By practising participatory grantmaking, you make a conscious effort to halt any undemocratic philanthropic practices. 

Notable examples of participatory grantmaking include

• Red Umbrella Fund
• Disability Rights Fund
• Edge Fund     

3. Create learning and capacity-building opportunities

The reality of the grantmaking scene is that some nonprofits are better established than others. As a result, the ones with greater stability are more popular and have records of well-executed projects. This gives them the upper hand during application reviews by grantmakers and can perpetuate the one-sidedness in philanthropy. 

To achieve philanthropy that works for all, give the lesser-known nonprofits a fair chance by better equipping them. Create learning opportunities for them to improve their capacity.

Such a learning environment can feature experts from your funding organisation and other resources. Besides serving as a platform for the exchange of knowledge, it will also serve as an avenue for networking and connection-building.       

4. Practice trust-based philanthropy

Another naturally equitable model of grantmaking to democratise your philanthropy is trust-based philanthropy, which concerns itself with the systemic redistribution of power and the possibility of more impactful charitable projects if the grantmaker-grantee relationship is built on partnership, trust and accountability.

A notable pillar of trust-based philanthropy that can enhance your efforts to democratise your grantmaking is providing long-term comprehensive support to nonprofits. Giving your grant recipients access to large sums of money with no restrictions demonstrates trust. It also gives the organisation the confidence to make long-term investments. 

Also, this model of philanthropy encourages funding organisations to do their research to discover lesser known nonprofits. A truly democratic grantmaking process recognises that the popular grantseekers aren’t the only ones that matter. 

Another feature of trust-based philanthropy is eliminating any red tape. Bureaucracy weighs down traditional philanthropy, making it a challenge for resource-strapped organisations to keep up. By adopting a simpler process that factors in the needs and resources of different organisations, the application process becomes more accessible and fair to all grantseekers.      

5. Get creative

Another good strategy to democratise your philanthropy is to get creative with your support methods. Adopt support tactics that provide different forms of support for nonprofits but without the unfair power dynamics.

One such model is pooled funding. This funding model involves multiple funding organisations contributing resources for grantseekers, leading to greater support for resounding impact. Since the sources of income are diversified, the power (and risk) of each individual funding organisation is reduced. Teaming up with other funders will reduce the chances of biased grantmaking decisions.

A similar alternative is the giving circle philanthropic model. This grantmaking method involves funding organisations teaming up to donate both funds and unpaid time to support charitable projects of common interest. They conduct research on various challenges and potential nonprofits to decide where they should channel their resources. 

This model results in grantmakers giving more to a much wider range of grantseekers, thereby guaranteeing a more democratic process.        

6. Evolve constantly

Democratising philanthropy is an unending project. It’s important to regularly evaluate your grantmaking practices to identify areas that need adjustment. Collect feedback from your grantseekers and grant recipients to understand their experiences. Use this insight to modify your practices to ensure a more equitable, inclusive and accessible grantmaking scheme.

Implementing these techniques will make your grantmaking more egalitarian and better empower underrepresented communities. This will bring about greater social change.