Cynthia Gibson

Mar 9, 2024 | proximate.press | Cynthia Gibson |Lisa Cowan |Jocelynne Rainey

Who gets to make the decisions about where philanthropic dollars go? For a long time, the conventional wisdom was that grantmaking should rely on professional staff to make expert decisions. But even a decade ago, the limitations of what came to be called “strategic philanthropy” were evident. Trust in institutions—including philanthropy—began declining dramatically, opening the door for more public critique of foundations and big-dollar donors as elitist, nontransparent, and plutocratic.

Feb 8, 2024 | nonprofitquarterly.org | Cynthia Gibson |Lisa Cowan |Jocelynne Rainey |Amara Enyia

This article was co-produced and co-published with Proximate. Who gets to make the decisions about where philanthropic dollars go? For a long time, the conventional wisdom was that grantmaking should rely on professional staff to make expert decisions, reflecting philanthropy’s move from a values-based tradition to a more technocratic bent. But even a decade ago, thelimitations of what came to be called “strategic philanthropy” were evident.