Philanthropy Together Celebrates Three Years, Expands Collective Giving Focus
This month, Philanthropy Together celebrated three years of working to democratize and diversify philanthropy through giving circles, and announced it will continue its work of disrupting philanthropy by expanding its work and audience across the landscape of collective giving.
Philanthropy Together is currently working to bring its knowledge and infrastructure support to the rapidly growing field of collaborative funds. Collaborative funds have seen a rapid rise over the past decade but aren't deeply connected as a field. Philanthropy Together aims to bridge the gap of communication and knowledge through community building, storytelling, convenings, training and resources, and tools for donors and advisors to better understand the landscape and increase their investment—specifically in community-led collaboratives where decision making sits with frontline groups. One of the goals of collaboratives is to showcase BIPOC-led and serving groups.
“Right now, collaboratives are largely working in parallel, experimenting with different governing structures without help from others. The field has elevated the need and desire to learn from one another’s success and failures, which are key to greater impact. We are excited about expanding our work, while still elevating the giving circle model,” said Sara Lomelin, CEO of Philanthropy Together.
Philanthropy Together is developing a “Collaboratives Braintrust” to co-create the strategy and set of support offerings with those leading on the ground. The organization will work in partnership with those leading on the ground to guide its work and provide infrastructure, collaboration, and coordination opportunities for intelligent, impactful, and sustainable scale.
Three years ago this month, Philanthropy Together was launched amid the ambiguity and urgency of COVID-19, racial uprisings, and the promise of a new way of democratizing and diversifying philanthropy through the power of collective giving. Its mission and mandate was spearheaded by Amplifier, Community Investment Network, Latino Community Foundation, Philanos, Asian Women Giving Circle, and dozens of collective giving networks and leaders who came together to envision the future of collective giving and to discuss how they could continue to scale and strengthen this explosive field’s impact with a sustainable plan.
“It is incredible to take a look back and see the significant impact we've had on the collective giving movement," said Lomelin. “We believe the future of philanthropy is collaborative, democratic, joyful, and rooted in local communities. We are excited about taking our hard-earned learnings to catalyze the field of collaboratives.”
In the past three years, Philanthropy Together trained hundreds of new giving circle leaders, brought together thousands within the field for in-depth learning at We Give Summit, supported hundreds of groups in their journey to strengthen their commitment to equity, and consistently convened networks and leaders to strengthen relationships and shared learning. Lomelin delivered the 2022 TED Talk on disrupting philanthropy, showcasing a collective giving model to more than 1 million viewers.
To request an interview with Philanthropy Together staff contact Janel Knight Trulear at janel@emccommunications.com or 617-875-6581.
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.
