Blog- Why Isn't Strategic Philanthropy Solving More Problems?
Why Isn't Strategic Philanthropy Solving More Problems?
Strategic philanthropy has not proven to be the catalyst for change projected by many (including us!). But why? Perhaps as currently conceived, strategic philanthropy falls short of offering the mental models, insight support, and guidelines needed to engage effectively on complex social and environmental problems. We believe more can be done to bring strategic philanthropy to its full potential.
We have seen positive trends – some foundations, governments, and businesses have begun to move away from a shotgun approach to funding, finding ways to assess and partner with the most effective grantees. And yet many still haven’t developed an appreciation for how complex social change actually happens. For those of you who are fans of Henry Mintzberg, you are familiar with his perspective that rarely do intended, planned strategies lead to perfectly realized strategies. That is because things change and strategic organizations adapt to accommodate those changes. So where have we gotten off track? Have tools like logic models and result frameworks hindered rather than empowered strategic philanthropy?
