Participatory Philanthropy in Grantmaking Examines Shift Away from Top-Down Power of Elite Foundations

Participatory Grantmaking in Philanthropy: How Democratizing Decision-Making Shifts Power to Communities, forthcoming in December from Georgetown University Press, features several case studies of and perspectives on what its proponents call “participatory grantmaking.” Generally, the approach consciously rejects the typical top-down model of grantmaking, common in most foundations, by which a professional program staff evaluates proposals and then makes grant recommendations to a board, which then either approves or declines to make the grant.

In the alternative participatory-philanthropy model, community-level figures play a meaningful role in the grantmaking process. It is bottom-up and anti-elite. The practice’s advocates tout its promise for demystifying the relationship between foundations and nonprofit applicants and grantees, as well as for enlivening civil society and democracy more broadly.

Participatory Grantmaking in Philanthropy combines contributions from practitioners and academics who address how participatory grantmaking relates to other features of contemporary giving—including trust-based philanthropy, giving circles, crowdfunding, giving traditions in communities of color, and global giving. A chapter by my fellow Giving Review co-editor Bill Schambra and me offers “A Conservative Perspective on ‘Participatoriness’ in Philanthropy.”

The book is edited by Cynthesis Consulting principal Cynthia Gibson, senior MacArthur Foundation program-staff official Chris Cardona, George Washington University professor Jasmine McGinnis Johnson, and University of Washington professor David Suárez.

This article first appeared in the Giving Review on November 20, 2024.