Let’s do a word association exercise. I will give you a word and you say the first related word or phrase that comes to mind. Okay, ready? The word is “philanthropy.”
Let me guess what you came up with. Was it “foundation,” “grant,” or “fundraising”? Or perhaps something a bit more esoteric, such as “crowdfunding” or “donor-advised fund”? While the former have long been ubiquitous in the field of philanthropy, newer terms such as the latter are gaining traction as donation methods evolve over time. One term and practice that has been rapidly gaining in popularity is that of “donor collaboratives,” also known as “philanthropic collaboratives.”
With over 400 of these entities already in existence, they have mushroomed in recent years to become one of the fastest growing giving vehicles. A recent study conducted by the Bridgespan Group of around 200 such entities found that in 2021, surveyed collaboratives awarded between $2 billion and $3 billion in total funds. Moreover, the majority of these collaboratives, or over 50%, were founded in 2010 or afterwards.
But what exactly do these terms mean? The Bridgespan Group defines philanthropic collaboratives as “entities that either pool or channel resources from multiple donors to nonprofits.” According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, donor collaboratives are “philanthropic organizations that align like-minded donors and direct their resources to the people and nonprofits that are accelerating progress on complex issues.”
These seemingly intractable issues, such as racial and gender equity, climate change, and poverty, may be too complex for one foundation or philanthropist to tackle on their own. Collaboratives enable donors to amplify their impact by putting their funds together towards a common goal, however challenging that objective may be.
How do they differ from traditional foundations? In addition to pooling money from multiple donors to maximize impact, donor collaboratives also tend to prioritize providing capacity-building for grantees, which may take myriad forms, from mentoring to strategic planning support to communities of practice, and more. Whereas the typical foundation provides little support after the check is cashed, collaboratives go the extra mile to set their grantees up for success in the long run.
In contrast to traditional models, many philanthropic collaboratives also focus on raising awareness around a given issue. It’s a virtuous cycle—the more people are aware of your issue area, the easier it is to solicit donations. And the more funds are available to support grantees, both financially and otherwise, the more likely it is that both they and the collaborative as a whole will achieve their aims.
Collaboratives may take different approaches to reaching their goals, but they tend to fall under three different types of models: 1) issue-focused; 2) curated; or 3) competition-based.
Issue-focused collaboratives are focused on solving problems related to a certain thematic area or objective. Three examples of this model are the Democracy Frontlines Fund (focused on racial justice issues), Blue Meridian Partners (focused on ending child poverty), and the Global Greengrants Fund (focused on environmental and social justice).
The first two of these award large amounts of funding to a small number of organizations. The Democracy Frontlines Fund, which includes heavy hitters such as the MacArthur Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and Tides, was founded in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Through a pooled fund currently totaling $45 million, the Fund is concentrating its support on ten Black-led organizations by providing multi-year general operating support, seeking to demonstrate that “change happens at the speed of trust, and no organization can effectively tackle our society’s problems without including those disproportionately hit.”
Blue Meridian Partners aims to solve the pernicious problem of child poverty in America by scaling solutions that work to advance economic and social mobility. Once a grantee is identified, they receive an initial grant to develop a scaling plan for their solution, over a period of one to two years. Then, grantees may be eligible for up to $200 million over a period of 10 to 12 years to implement that plan, which is paid out in smaller timeframes and dependent upon meeting specific milestones. The amount and structure of these grants enable grantees to scale their initiatives to a level that would be unimaginable with a grant from a single foundation.
The Global Greengrants Fund is an issue-focused collaborative that takes the opposite approach, doling out small amounts of funding to a larger number of grantees. Since 1993, it has awarded over 15,000 grants of up to $5,000 to grassroots environmental and social justice organizations around the world. The rationale is straightforward. “For many organizations, it’s just enough money to make critical work happen, and connections made, that otherwise they wouldn’t have had the resources to implement. Over time, the cumulative impact of small grants can lead to the creation of larger movements to protect our planet.”
The second model for donor collaboratives, the curated model, is defined by the Gates Foundation as one that “draws on strong networks and deep subject-matter expertise to identify high-impact funding opportunities. The collaboratives curate those options based on their strategic fit with donors’ passions and interests.” In short, collaboratives operating under the curated model carry out due diligence to identify grantees worthy of support and thus make it easier for donors to contribute to trustworthy and effective organizations.
Gates Philanthropy Partners is one example of this. It leverages the expertise of its namesake foundation to enable individual donors to contribute to projects in the Gates Foundation’s interest areas. The collaborative achieves this by channeling donations to Foundation-funded projects with a high potential for impact, enabling individual donors to support organizations in three thematic areas: Must-Solve Problems (including health, gender equality, U.S. education, and more), Frontiers: HIV & Sickle Cell Disease, and Empowerment & Opportunity (focused on women and girls).
Another example of the curated model is GiveWell. Utilizing an effective-altruism approach to identify charities that “save or improve lives the most per dollar,” this collaborative reports investing over 50,000 hours each year researching charities. The most highly-effective organizations make it onto GiveWell’s Top Charities list, which currently consists of four organizations working in the areas of malaria prevention, Vitamin A supplementation, and childhood vaccinations. Donors can then pick one of these charities to support monthly, quarterly, or through a one-time donation.
The third and final model is the competition-based model. In this model, philanthropic collaborations source solutions to important issues by holding competitions aimed at organizations or individual innovators.
For example, The Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William and supported by an impressive global alliance of funders, seeks to solve the world’s most pressing environmental challenges by finding and scaling innovative solutions. After being vetted through a nomination process, the top 15 candidates become Earthshot Prize Finalists, each receiving a £1,000,000 prize to help them scale their solution. They also receive specialized support through The Earthshot Fellowship program and a global network of partners.
At this point, you may be asking yourself, “How can I research donor collaboratives that are aligned with my mission?” You can start by visiting the Bridgespan Group’s Philanthropic Collaborations Database, which lists over 200 such organizations. It includes a quick breakdown of information on each philanthropic collaborative, including its value proposition, primary issue area(s), geographic scope, and information on the leadership’s ethnic and gender identity. Crucially, the database also provides a brief explanation of how grantmaking decisions are made.
If you are looking for collaboratives that have already been vetted to ensure they accept applications, GrantStation Members conducting research in the U.S. Charitable, Canadian Charitable, or International Charitable databases can refine their results by choosing “Giving Circle” under “Type of Grantmaker.” (Giving circles are a type of issue-focused collaborative in which a group of individuals pool their funds and collectively decide where to award donations. Giving circles may be organized around a thematic or geographic area.)
Or, if after reading this article you would like to make the words “donor collaborative” and “philanthropic collaborative” part of your active vocabulary, you can start on this journey by exploring relevant resources. As referred to previously, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation offers a useful resource called “To Go Far, Go Together”: How Donor Collaboratives Are Changing the World. It explains what donor collaboratives are, who uses them, and why they matter. In addition, the Bridgespan Group’s recent report, titled The Philanthropic Collaborative Landscape, provides information on key characteristics of donor collaboratives as well as insights on how to move the sector ahead. By scrolling to the end of the report, you can access some links to help you go down the philanthropic collaborative rabbit hole even further.