Leading with Trust

Trust-Based Philanthropy

A group stands in front of a screen at a conference to show how we meet up with our partners at all kinds of different learning events

Megan and Sara shaking hands, used to represent how we focus on building trust with everyone we work with

a wall painted with be the source of change, our motto, proudly displayed in our building

Trust-based philanthropy flips the script on conventional philanthropy. With values rooted in advancing equity, shifting power, and building mutual accountable relationships, trust-based philanthropy emphasizes humility and collaboration across culture, structures, leadership and practices.

What trust-based philanthropy looks like in our grantmaking:

We center our partners by listening, learning from their expertise, and responding to their needs and feedback.

We allow partners to focus on community needs by doing our own due diligence and simplifying our processes.

We support the capacity and flexibility of partners by offering unrestricted, multi-year funding when possible.

We invest in partners beyond grantmaking by providing opportunities to bolster their organizational and individual health.

We encourage transparency and honesty from our partners by not requiring absolute success and perfection.

Learning sesh/meeting to show how we are always learning and revealing our findings to the communities

We know we don’t always get it right, so we welcome feedback from our partners to help us do better. We measure our success as a trust-based funder by regularly surveying grantees to understand their experiences with our processes and partnership.

Headwaters Foundation is proud to be a founding member of the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project – explore their work to learn more about values and practices that democratize philanthropy.

TBP Project