May 2016

Effective philanthropy: another take (edited by Caroline Hartnell and Andrew Milner) is a collection of 11 stories describing a philanthropic intervention against some form of injustice (socioeconomic and/or political) at a local, national or global scale. These stories are told through the lens of a grantmaker illuminating the sorts of considerations, dilemmas, and uncertainties a grantmaker might wrestle with when making a grant to effect positive social change. They delve deep into the analysis of the problem, the solution, the strategy, and tactics used to address it, the risks and challenges involved, and the impact of the philanthropic support.

The purpose in telling these stories is to broaden the circle of philanthropy practitioners whose aim is to help produce lasting change in the lives of people and communities, by showing how such grantmaking is done and giving evidence of its impact.

The stories broadly fall into three categories:

Supporting marginalized groups and communities to achieve change in their own lives

By Celia McKeon, Assistant Trust Secretary, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust

We all know that it’s not money that builds peace, but people. The complicated process of moving from violent conflict to what might conceivably become sustainable peace only happens if people take risks to enable that transition. It is the actions of people at all levels of society that make the difference, often over many years, and with many set-backs and false dawns along the way.

What does this mean for the role of philanthropy in contested societies? This was the topic I was asked to speak on at a workshop at the recent European Foundations Centre conference in Sarajevo. There are many possible approaches, but as the grants officer for the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust’s (JRCT) programme in Northern Ireland, I focused on identifying lessons from the Trust’s experience of funding there for the last four decades.

Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT), York, UK
Written by Andrew Milner

Mission
At a recent meeting of the Board of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT), the Trustees wrestled with the wording of a mission statement: how to capture the essence of the organisation in a few words; how to include a sense of the ambition of the Trust, whilst recognizing the limitations of its knowledge and resources; how to acknowledge the willingness of the Trust to fund unpopular, even controversial, projects and organizations, whilst recognizing that the real risks are taken by the grantees on the front line of social change? After deep reflection, some humour and a timely coffee break, an interim statement was agreed: We are a Quaker trust which seeks to transform the world by supporting people who address the root causes of conflict and injustice.