Giving Compass' Take:

• Louise Lief discusses why donors need to break away from funding easily understood "program silos" because they will miss the benefits of powerful new forces in philanthropy that lead to the emergence of organizations. 

• Working with communities and different institutions is essential for the success of philanthropic organizations. How can impact philanthropists assist an organization with this knowledge? 

• Here are 7 tried-and-true alternative forms of funding for nonprofits. 

The nonprofit I See Change began as a public-media project, helping farmers in western Colorado observe and record yearly changes on their land due to weather and climate by creating a communal digital Farmers’ Almanac.

Then it started doing science. It joined forces with local media organizations, university-based scientists, and community groups in Harlem to investigate summer indoor-heat indexes for residents without air conditioning. Their findings raised important public-health issues, suggesting local governments should change the way they do heat advisories and organize cooling centers.

It’s much easier to fund projects that fit neatly into different program silos and pass on ones that don’t. But that approach misses the benefits of powerful new forces that have led to the emergence of organizations like I See Change. Such projects defy easy categorization but can tap into diverse streams of knowledge for many purposes, packing a bigger punch and resulting in greater impact.

Read the full article about breaking away from program silos by Louise Lief at Medium