Originally published in Chronicles of Philanthropy, Honnold Foundation ED Emily Teitsworth wrote a defense of trust-based philanthropy in response to an Op-Ed criticizing the emerging philanthropic practice for “lack of accountability”. As Emily notes, trust-based philanthropy involves investing in “authentic trust, which balances transparency and accountability”.
To the Editor:
Dan Goldenberg’s recent opinion piece, “My Organization Nixed Trust-Based Philanthropy. Here’s What We Discovered,” displays a startling misunderstanding of the way in which trust-based philanthropy actually works. As the executive director of the Honnold Foundation, a trust-based intermediary funder, I feel compelled to respond in hopes of addressing the article’s misconceptions about trust-based philanthropy, and clarify why I believe this approach is an essential part of our sector’s present and future impact.
The Honnold Foundation (HF) focuses on expanding renewable energy access in partnership with marginalized communities around the world. In my role, I’m closely acquainted with both the advantages and the challenges of implementing a trust-based grantmaking framework. HF’s strategy shares Call of Duty Endowment’s emphasis on investing in long-term relationships and building the internal capacity of its grantees.
However, Dan’s op-ed seems to misinterpret trust-based philanthropy as an unserious concept that assumes that the “actual, measurable results of grantee work can be ignored.” As Dan states: “we made large grants without firm guidelines for what should be achieved or regular performance assessments.” This led his team to conclude that “trust-based philanthropy doesn’t work,” a finding which directly contradicts growing evidence that it is more effective than traditional funding, and preferred by the majority of nonprofit organizations.
Like other trust-based funders, HF takes impact measurement and learning seriously. Rather than blindly trusting our grantees, we invest in authentic trust, which balances transparency and accountability. We view measuring impact as the shared responsibility of grantmakers and grantees, one that, crucially, provides regular opportunities for grantee organizations to offer confidential feedback to us.
Our grantmaking framework balances freedom and accountability throughout the grant lifecycle, integrating extensive up-front due diligence with unrestricted grants, and starting with one-year grants before awarding multi-year funding to partners that have demonstrated strong potential for impact during their first year of HF funding. HF values equity above efficiency, long term impact over short term gains, and authentic relationships over transactional ones. In addition to emphasizing a nuanced understanding of trust, this approach necessitates comfort with strategic risk-taking: in our view, incremental failures and the flexibility to adapt when circumstances change are integral steps on the path to success.
Implementing this approach means that HF is often one of the first institutional funders for many of our grantee partners. Since 2020, HF has supported the grassroots women’s organization ATAIC’s work in remote communities in northern Brazil. We’ve helped expand their network to over 50 solar home systems while enabling solar-powered açai processing and satellite internet. ATAIC’s impact speaks for itself: for the first time in years, the community has seen its population grow as people return home from Brazil’s cities. And now, neighboring communities are calling for similar solutions. HF’s trust-based approach was a key part of making this partnership successful: our commitment to supporting early-stage innovation and the flexibility of an unrestricted grant structure enabled ATAIC to adapt their plans during COVID, laying the foundation for impact at scale.
Trust-based philanthropy requires funders and grantee partners to acknowledge that none of us hold the monopoly on expertise, and that financial resources are not more valuable than lived experience. Philanthropy doesn't have to give up rigorous evaluation in order to build strong partnerships with our grantees; we just have to stop trivializing these relationships as an exchange of money for impact.
Emily Teitsworth
Executive Director
Honnold Foundation