Funder Learning

Supporting funders in becoming more equitable partners to community-led nonprofits

Funder Learning

Overview

The SIF Funder Learning program supports funders to learn about equitable funding practices and build trust-based partnerships with community-led nonprofit organizations. Since traditional philanthropy perpetuates injustice, we come together to vision and enact more equitable paths forward together. 

Funder Learning has been a foundational element of SIF’s approach of building partnerships between community-led nonprofits and the funding community. We offer programming to all types of funders in our community, ranging from individual donors to staff at family, corporate, and community foundations, to wealth advisors. Funder Learning program participants have the flexibility to participate in whichever learning opportunities meet their needs and interests. 

Expert panelists and facilitators lead our funder community in hands-on workshops, interactive panels, and other learning experiences to equip funders with the skills they need to advance values-aligned philanthropy. Recent topics have included:

  • Rooted in Trust: Nurturing Funder-Nonprofit Relationships
  • Moving Upstream: Funding to Address Root Causes of Inequity
  • Board Engagement in Values-Aligned Philanthropy: Lessons from the Field
  • Funding for Equity: Bridging the Gap between Nonprofit and Funder Understanding of Full Cost
  • How Funders Can Partner with Nonprofits to Measure What Matters  

As an intermediary, SIF takes responsibility for making our own funding practices as equitable as we can; we remain committed to learning from and with funders in our community to ensure that our funding practices serve the community-led nonprofits in our network.

For more information about SIF’s Funder Learning Program, please contact Carina Traub, Funder Learning Program Manager, at ctraub@socialinnovationforum.org. 

Results 

The effectiveness of our approach is reflected in the feedback we receive about it. Per our most recently completed round of survey data:

  • 92% of participants said they would apply what they learned to their work in the next 12 months.
  • 92% of participants have increased access to a network of support amongst other funders and funding entities.
  • 100% of program participants learned useful information about the session topic from the speaker or panelists.

Stay Connected to Funder Learning 

We share events with our funder community through updates from SIF’s LinkedIn, which funders can follow to hear about the latest Funder Learning opportunities. Additionally, the Funder Learning program shares best practices and key learnings from our events on the SIF blog. 

SIF amplifies best practices and shares resources so funders can stay up to date on how the field is building towards a more equitable funding ecosystem. Funder Learning resources are often shared in the SIF newsletter. 

Funder Learning Advisory Council 

SIF’s Funder Learning Advisory Council is a group of individuals representing different funder types who advise the Funder Learning program. By sharing ideas, giving feedback, and expanding outreach, the Council supports the program as it strives to uplift small- to mid-size community-led nonprofits through increased resources, more equitable partnerships, and new connections.