Evaluating Participatory Grantmaking in social justice initiatives: its uses, benefits, and shortfalls

• In Event: Justice Philanthropy during Poly-Crises

Abstract

Increasingly, the third sector is facing pressures to shift the power to affected communities and decentralize decision making through participation (Husted, Finchum-Mason & Suarez., 2021). “Nothing about us, without us” is the “ethos” and mantra which is a product of South African disability rights groups wherein numerous community members take a stand against decisions and work being done for them without them. In the early 2000s, the South African government initiated the expanded public works programme through collaborating with various ministries to increase service delivery to communities and reduce poverty and the term “nothing about us, without us” was created and grew beyond disability rights groups to communities that have been unyielding about any activities being done in their name and for them without them (Van Platzen et al., 2014). This participation phenomena was consequently made famous by an Indonesian domestic worker and migrant from a grassroots movement who addressed a UN General assembly in 2015. In her speech, she echoed the famous mantra and emphasized that the very same people who will be affected by decisions must be part of the conversation in order to have real, impactful change (Hauger, 2022). It warranted immediate and urgent attention from all sectors including academia and practitioners to understand and implement participatory grant making for true social justice.

The concept of participation has infused into philanthropy on the basis that decision making will become better because of the knowledge and information provided by communities (Huager, 2022). This shift to participation in philanthropy has manifested in grantmaking, information sharing and governance with some Grantmakers sharing the tools for effective participatory grantmaking.
The study seeks to understand the concept of participatory grantmaking and establish its impact as a form of philanthropy. Participation is anchored on development and empowerment theory. An exploratory approach is employed to enable our data collection to be mixed, coupling case study enquiries with qualitative interviews. Semi structured qualitative interviews help validate the findings from our case study and secondary data analysis approach.

The world has reached a critical moment for stakeholder participation in philanthropy. The endemic challenges facing society including income inequality, racial and gender discrimination, and the threat of climate change, are so complex that collaborative efforts to address them are necessary. However, practitioners and academics overwhelmingly believe that these efforts cannot succeed without the inclusion of those directly affected (Sirianni, 2009). Practitioners particularly argue for participatory approaches based on their effectiveness in achieving social goals (Twersky, Buchanan, and Threlfall, 2013). This study will thus unpack this phenomena from various parts of the world and enable the third sector to understand and implement effective participatory grantmaking.

Reference List
Gibson, C. M. (2017). Participatory Grantmaking: Has Its Time Come?. New York: Ford Foundation.
Husted, K., Finchum-Mason, E., & Suárez, D. (2021). Sharing Power?: The Landscape of Participatory Practices & Grantmaking Among Large US Grantmakers.
Hauger, T. D. (2022). Nothing about us without us: innovating grantmaking processes with participatory methodology. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 1-21.
Sirianni, C. (2009). The civic mission of a federal agency in the age of networked governance: US Environmental Protection Agency. American Behavioral Scientist, 52(6), 933-952.
Twersky, F., Buchanan, P., & Threlfall, V. (2013). Listening to those who matter most, the beneficiaries. Leland Stanford Jr. University.
Van Pletzen, E., Zulliger, R., Moshabela, M., & Schneider, H. (2014). The size, characteristics and partnership networks of the health-related non-profit sector in three regions of South Africa: implications of changing primary health care policy for community based care. Health Policy and Planning, 29, 742-752. doi: 10.1093/heapol/czt058

Author

• Keratiloe Mogotsi, Chatham University