An Article by Peter Brach, Founder of Propel Philanthropy
The conventional wisdom in philanthropy is focus, focus, focus. But what if we complemented this approach with a discretionary fund dedicated exclusively to exceptional, far-reaching opportunities for impact–opportunities that are often too far-reaching to fit neatly with our other agendas?
I’ve implemented this approach for more than five years. The outcomes have often far exceeded my expectations. The results speak through numerous success stories collected on Propel Philanthropy’s Stories of Impact page.
This counterintuitive strategy deliberately seeks out broad, innovative approaches that can positively affect multiple populations, environments, and issue areas simultaneously—sometimes creating an impressive ripple effect.
You will find five ideas for achieving exceptional, far-reaching impact below. Think of them as seeds—possibilities that funders might convene around and explore together. Even if nothing more comes of them, they may spark your imagination and inspire your own far-reaching approach to change.
Five Examples:
- Creating a Powerful Cascading Effect: A single strategic intervention could possibly improve a thousand organizations’ capacities. For example, one funder provided a grant for ethical AI training to a network hub that reaches 4000 nonprofits across 40 African countries. Applying this train-the-trainer approach to similar far-reaching organizations could dramatically increase the operational efficiency of many nonprofits. These include networks, coalitions, social investment platforms, and social impact infrastructure organizations.
- Taking Advantage of Our Enormous Reach: Cumulatively, existing platforms serve hundreds of thousands of nonprofit and civil society organizations. Think about how we can leverage this reach. How can we better understand and meet the needs of these organizations? How can we connect these organizations to the wealth of online platforms and training programs available to them, including ethical and safe AI training?
- Creating an eHarmony for Collaboration: During the current crisis, nonprofits need partners and merging opportunities more than ever. With rapidly advancing technologies, could we create an eHarmony-type digital matchmaking platform? What about making meetings more intimate and effective by incorporating virtual reality?
- Inspiring a New Wave of Volunteerism: With so many people retiring, what can we do to motivate a new wave of those no longer working to provide their expertise to nonprofit organizations now struggling more than ever? How can we fuel platforms such as VolunteerMatch or Points of Light to significantly increase human resources during these difficult times?
- National-Level Cross-Sector Partnerships: In numerous cases, governments have partnered with other sectors to leverage diverse expertise, connections, and other resources. While creating these can be exceptionally challenging, the outcomes could be exceptionallytransformative. Some governments can spend billions more than philanthropy can once concepts are proven to work.
Small Grants Can Drive Big Results
Examples 2–4 above would involve large outlays of funding. However, there are many times when small grants can be leveraged to achieve far more than we may realize.
Join the Funder-to-Funder Infrastructure Group
Propel Philanthropy’s founder, Peter Brach, began a group where funders can convene to explore a range of approaches for expanding our reach. All endowed funders are warmly invited to join us.