Community-Driven Philanthropy
Community-driven philanthropy builds trust and centers community and nonprofit voices and experiences in grantmakers’ work. A community-driven approach requires inviting nonprofit and community leaders to be in the driver’s seat, sharing decision-making authority, placing leaders with relevant expertise and lived experience in staff and board positions and engaging with nonprofit and community leaders throughout the grantmaking process.5
Increasingly, grantmakers have moved toward more intentional power sharing with models such as trust-based, community-informed and participatory grantmaking. Forty-two percent of grantmakers report engaging in participatory grantmaking practices. Figure 8 shows organizations committed to DEI are more likely to practice participatory grantmaking with only 17 percent of grantmakers indicating that DEI is “not at all” central to their grantmaking engaging in participatory grantmaking while those who stated DEI is “very much” central to their work report the highest engagement in participatory practices at 51 percent.
To further understand how grantmakers are implementing community-driven practices, the study assessed how grantmakers are engaging with beneficiary and focus populations6 in their work and how individuals from those populations were represented within organizational staffing and board representation or involved in decision-making. While GEO recognizes that terms like “beneficiary” and “focus populations” are imperfect and not universally preferred, the terms remain widely understood and are used here with care and awareness that language evolves over time. For the purpose of the study, beneficiary population refers to the broad groups or communities that a program supports, while focus population refers to the specific groups or communities a program aims to serve such as youth, people of color or rural residents. For more on how the study used these terms, see the full 2025 National Study report.
Figure 9 illustrates that grantmakers recognize the importance of engaging directly with focus populations, with half of grantmakers having at least 50% of their current staff, the board of directors, people in grant-related decision-making and strategic decision-making who are members of focus populations, but further representation and engagement is still needed. Additionally, this data raises questions for further research into what this involvement looks like and to what extent decision-making is community-driven.
Once again, organizations where DEI was “very much” or “somewhat” central to their work had greater representation of beneficiary and focus populations on their current staff and boards compared with organizations where DEI was “not at all” or only “a little bit” central to their strategy, as shown in Figure 10.
Transactional practices make philanthropy work, and transformational work happens when we build authentic, heart-centered relationships.”
Saint Luke’s Foundation
Saint Luke’s Foundation — Decision-Making in the Hands of Residents
At Saint Luke’s Foundation in Cleveland, equity is put into action by placing decision-making directly in the hands of residents.
The Resident Advancement Committee (RAC), made up of ten community members from Buckeye, Woodland Hills and Mt. Pleasant, awards $140,000 in Community Grants each year. “The Saint Luke’s Board of Directors designates a portion of our general operating budget to the Resident Advancement Committee to fund residents in support of their neighborhood community projects,” said Peter Whitt, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. RAC grants prioritize smaller, resident-led projects that often fly under the radar of traditional philanthropy, strengthening neighborhood connections, building trust and sparking grassroots innovation.
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When funders listen and allow those of us on the ground to respond to what our community needs most, that’s when real change happens.”
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East End Neighborhood House
East End Neighborhood House — Time as a Value
Since 1907, East End Neighborhood House has served families in Cleveland’s Buckeye-Woodland-Woodhill communities with culturally diverse, compassionate social services, education, and activities.
President & CEO Atunyese V. Herron shared how multiyear, general operating support helped the organization not only keep operations running but also invest in its people — including a four-day work week with full pay during COVID-19. “Time is a value! Our team is energized, committed and wants to be here for the long term,” Herron said. “Unrestricted dollars show that funders believe in our vision and leadership. When funders listen and allow those of us on the ground to respond to what our community needs most, that’s when real change happens.”
5Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, “Community-Driven Philanthropy: Participation, Partnership and Power,” 2025. Available at https://www.geofunders.org/resource/community-driven-philanthropy-participation-partnership-and-power/.
6Beneficiary population refers to groups or communities that a program or initiative actually supports, which can often be a broad group. Focus population refers to specific groups or communities of people that a program or initiative seeks to support, such as children and young people, people of color, or rural communities. GEO acknowledges the imperfection of this language and that many in the field prefer not to use the “beneficiary” label, in particular. However, the term is still widely used and understood across the sector, so GEO chose to use it in the study and employs it here with sensitivity. For more on the findings about focus and beneficiary populations, see the full National Study report.