R&D in the Philanthropy Lab

Creating the Future’s Philanthropy Lab held its first meeting in October of 2011. And that means it is way past time that we keep folks in the loop about the work that team is doing, to begin to engage some of the big questions we are sinking our teeth into – and to see if you would like to join us! Philanthropy Lab? The Philanthropy Lab has gone through several titles since its inception last fall. It started as the Resource Development Team, evolved into the Rethinking Philanthropy Team, until finally it became clear that this is the first of several R&D labs that will be at the heart of Creating the Future’s work. And so, the term Philanthropy Lab was born. So what’s it all about? The short term mission for this team is simple:

Find ways to support Creating the Future’s scale-up from 2 founders doing the work of 12 people to an actual staff of 12 people, AND, most importantly, to do so in ways that walk our own talk.

If we know that competitive grant-making (pitting organizations / collaborations / people with innovative ideas against each other for the means to implement their work) is one of many systems that go counter to creating a cooperative, healthy, humane future for our communities, could we in good conscience use those very systems to support Creating the Future’s efforts to replace those systems?

Or put another way, do we really want to compete for funds, to scale up an effort that will (among other things) advocate to STOP making people compete for funds?

Guided by the Pollyanna Principles (the values at the heart of Creating the Future’s work), it became clear that while it would be far more expedient to set aside our values – to use current systems to get funded, and then use that money to change those systems – this would not be (as our colleagues at WinFinity have coined the phrase) beginning as we intend to continue. Yes, it will take a year longer than it would have if we had just gone out and found funding. And yes, that means things are a bit more tight than we’d like. But this is such an incredible opportunity. We are constructing a model that will hopefully be an example of what it can look like to scale-up, staff-up and support a major initiative in a way that models true, holistic partnership (vs. simply financial partnership). We hope that no matter what we learn, it is of value to others who are seeking more effective (and dare I say less soul-sucking) approaches to supporting social change. The First Few Months As with all Creating the Future’s work, the team started by exploring its vision for the highest potential of philanthropy. If philanthropy were to reflect its original Greek meaning – Love of Humanity – what would that look like? What would it make possible for communities? And what would have to be in place in communities, for that result to emerge? The answer to those questions took several months to unfold, resulting in two posts back in December – “Philanthropy as Love of Humanity,” and  “Do We Really Want Donations?” The work created an image of communities where people are nurturing, nourishing, encouraging and co-supporting each other’s potential – communities where people are participating in their own lives, and in the overall life of their community. As we have worked this past 6 months, our task has been to reverse engineer* from that vision, to begin determining action steps that will allow us to be that community now, in the way we support this nascent effort. As you might imagine, the work has been brain-bending at times – exhausting and exhilarating, all at once. And the reason for that is simple. This is not a theoretical exercise. It is a practical matter of the greatest importance. How do we support our work in a way that aligns with our deepest values, walking the talk of the future we want to see in our world? As we watch the world become more and more cynical in response to a larger and larger gap between values and actions, we feel these are perhaps the most practical questions we can be asking. Further, we believe the most important place to start is the place where people are the most willing to set aside their values – the place of scarcity and fear that has been the root of how social change has, to date, been supported.

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Having brought you up to speed a bit in this post, and in the 2 posts back in December, the next post in this series will begin with our first meeting of 2012, where we asked, “How can the Philanthropy Lab demonstrate what co-supporting a community / a cause / a movement looks like – beyond money, honoring the whole of what each individual has to offer?”

So stick around – the party’s just getting started!

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If you would like to be part of Creating the Future’s Philanthropy Lab, please let us know. We are seeking creative, curious minds to join us in this exciting and often brain-bending endeavor.

• If you believe the issue of supporting healthy, humane communities is bigger than finding new ways to raise money…
• If you believe the issue is less about supporting strong organizations, and more about supporting efforts to build strong communities…
• If you wish there were a more life-affirming, interconnected, we’re-all-in-this-together way of nurturing and nourishing the communities we love (and the systems and infrastructure within those communities)…
• If you relish opportunities to question your own assumptions about fundraising, engagement, and community building – and to then practice what it is to walk the talk of those new assumptions…

… if that’s you, we are seeking to add several open, curious minds to this team. We meet by phone once a month for 90 minutes at a time, and then in between online. And we would love to have you join us. (See Post #2 in this series here.) * This TEDx talk shows what it looks like to reverse engineer the future we want for our world!

Photo Credit: Many thanks to Don O’Brien and Wikimedia Commons for this photo