Transform philanthropy!! But how exactly? One way is by creating spaces for different voices to come together and be heard. TAI hosted a session at the WINGS Forum* on gender and social inclusion built into funders thematic programming. MacArthur Foundation, Open Society Foundations and VOICE colleagues shared their experiences, for instance on tax justice for gender equality, and stressed that a precondition to inclusion was the possibility to participate. But for real participation to happen, there are a set of patriarchal structures we first need to recognize and deconstruct.

Speakers reminded us that funders had an important responsibility doing no harm with their grant making and affirming dignity. For inclusion to be meaningful it has to be holistic, meaning inclusion of women, youth, elderly, people with disabilities, all races and geographies – in sum, Gender Equity and Social Inclusion should be seen as a set of values, something shaped in shared knowledge spaces.

Conversations at our session had their echoes throughout the Forum and the following are important considerations for funders when embarking on the transformation journey:

Never assume you know the meaning of buzz words. After all, what exactly shifting the power, localization, system change, global north, or democratic decline mean and for whom? Take time to discuss, define the meaning and what exactly you and your partners aim to change. For instance, Giovanni Harvey, the executive director of Fundo Baobab rightly warned: ‘funders talk about the attack on democracy, but for black people in Brazil, democracy never existed, we are just building it’.

So, what future exactly do we envision? Do we want to defend or reinvent democracy, or is it more important to focus on social justice, inclusion and equity, a more value-based system? It is not funders’ job to figure it out alone, they should instead support the creation of safe spaces where different voices can gather without rush and develop new thinking.

Don’t use the transformation trend only to look good. You will cause more harm than good. For instance, it is laudable if being a funder you think about supporting more locally led initiatives but think twice about the how. Is it a good idea to plan to open your local office and ‘steal’ talent from the field? Perhaps giving longer term flexible grants to local partners would better contribute to building resilient movements.

If we are to shift the capitalist way of thinking, it is also time to accept that bigger is not better. Many organizations are great being small and making them grow or formalizing movements, might just take away their flexibility, adaptability and even legitimacy. See SSIR article taking on the myth that only big organizations can influence systems.

One participant shared how incredibly grateful her organization was for receiving the flexible, long-term MacKenzie gift, but she also noted that in this case she misses the thought partnership she has with some other funders.

There was a reminder about tools, like Humentum’s ERA Index, a snapshot of organizational journeys towards equitable, resilient, and accountable operating models; or Accountable Now’s Dynamic Accountability for funders and civil society organizations, and an idea emerged that a rating or index of funders’ transparency and accountability should also be created!

We will not figure it all out in one night, so, let’s shift from result-oriented thinking and focus on the process. And there are plenty of opportunities for funders to engage, for instance, by putting at practice the interactive Accountability and Transparency Guide for funders that WINGS developed together with TAI.

*The 2023 WINGS Forum brought together an incredibly diverse community of philanthropy networks and support organizations from across the globe, to dig deeper into the WINGS Philanthropy Transformation Principles and discuss practical ways in which philanthropy sector can and should change to address root causes of the global polycrisis.

Eszter Filippinyi, Transparency and Accountability Initiative (TAI)