“Trust-based philanthropy” to promote innovation and social change
We publish below the introduction of the report entitled “Trust-based philanthropy. promoting innovation and social change by investing in relationships “, the report on the processes that are transforming the international philanthropic sector, written by Pathways to Second Welfare and sponsored by Lottomatica Foundation., written by Eleonora Rossero e Franca Maino by Percorsi di secondo welfare. A full downloadable version of the report is attached at the bottom of the page.
“The future of philanthropy is based on trust” is the title of the Stanford Social Innovation Review 2024, accompanied by a paper edited by the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project (https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/) that delves into an approach that is gaining increasing relevance in the international philanthropic landscape.
Beginning with the health and social crisis that, since 2020, has forced a series of rethinks at various levels of policy and governance, there has been a proliferation of initiatives that seek to rebalance the relationship between funders and beneficiaries, establishing trust-based relationships and more collaborative ways of working, before, during and after grantmaking. The relevance of the topic is also confirmed in Europe by the annual Philea (Philanthropy European Association) conference, dedicated in May 2024 precisely to the topic of trust in philanthropy, and in Italy, where the annual Philanthropy Experience 2024 is titled “Trust and Philanthropy. Sharing, Relationship and Change.”
The drives to adopt democratic and equity-oriented approaches represent a not insignificant cultural change, calling for a rethinking of the role of the funder within the community, and a redefinition of the notions of responsibility, accountability and social justice. Such a change, supported internationally by “best practices” and concrete case studies, is deeply connoted on the value level and enables nurturing social capital in territories by investing in relationships and cultivating them over the long term. Balancing the needs of the philanthropic entity (monitoring, evaluation and control of the funding provided and the activities carried out) and the needs of the beneficiaries (focusing on the changes they wish to produce, reducing the burden of red tape and more restrictive constraints), the trust-based approach proposes to both parties to bet on the relationship and to take up the bold challenge of trust, identifying in them a new opportunity for innovation and development of the welfare of communities. The participatory dimension and trust as an engine of collective action and social change are foundational elements of the so-called philanthropy 3.0 (collaborative philanthropy) and 4.0
(transformative philanthropy), i.e., the most recent evolutions of philanthropic practice developed to cope with high levels of complexity in the context of the current polycrisis and in multi-stakeholder fields of intervention
Building on this framework, this Report aims to delve into the conceptual dimensions of the trust-based approach, to explore the literature produced on the international level, and to explore, through selected case studies, the potential of relational philanthropy in the context of Italian corporate foundations.
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