Community foundations often say they want to be “the community’s foundation,” emphasizing an egalitarian hope for their institution’s ability to involve people from all income brackets. Related concepts are democratized philanthropy, community philanthropy, and participatory philanthropy.

Why should community foundations re-assess the opportunity to democratize philanthropy? I see at least four related reasons:

  1. Reinforcing community divisions and inequities
  2. Community divisions breed distrust in the establishment
  3. Declining trust means losing social legitimacy
  4. Without trust and legitimacy, the establishment is being bypassed

Community foundations interested in those honest conversations will have to challenge their own organizational cultures and their assumptions about measures that create long-term success.

Read the full article about democratizing philanthropy by Tony Macklin at Medium.