Second global summit shows collaborative funds are on the rise, says Mannifera EO

Around the world, collaborative funds are increasingly being recognised as effective and efficient ways to move resources to where they need to be. Their growth has warranted international gatherings to understand and develop this way of doing philanthropy. Mannifera EO Harriet McCallum recently attended the second Global Summit of Collaborative Funds in San Francisco. She shares her learnings.

It was an absolute joy for me to be in the company of 132 collaborative funds from around the world. Since Mannifera got going five years ago, our collective of funders has used a relational, responsive and risk-tolerant approach to develop a different kind of philanthropy in support of a fairer democracy and economy. This was my big chance to assess how we were doing and learn from a sizable peer group.

I learned so many things, met great people and joined networks for ongoing connection and sharing. What I hadn’t anticipated was to experience such a strong affirmation for Mannifera’s work to date, in terms of what we aim to achieve in our collaborative funding approach and the challenges faced. Below are some of my key learnings from the summit, which wasexpertly delivered by the team at Philanthropy Together, with resourcing from the Gates Foundation.

What are collaborative funds?

When I read the working definition of collaborative funds on a giant screen, half a world away from home  I felt Mannifera was seen – and my heart lifted. Mannifera members had got here relatively instinctively, not via a how-to manual.

Collaborative funds, broadly speaking, use the power of the collective to tackle complex, systemic issues. They bring givers together so that they can make bigger bets, invest in broader ecosystems over individual organisations, tackle issues at a larger scale and connect with on-the-ground leaders who are on the forefront of social change.

Why do funders like them?

We heard from several funders on their reasons for prioritising collaborative funds. These reasons mirrored those shared by Mannifera’s members.

• Collaborative funds have the knowledge, expertise and connections to bring funders and not-for-profits together and move increasing levels of funding without growing operations too much.

• New funders are increasingly starting their philanthropy by giving through collaborative funds. They see them as lean, efficient operations compared to foundations, that can give quickly, thoughtfully and at scale in line with a clear strategy.

• The top three reasons why funders give to collaboratives are: they coordinate strategic funding more aligned to the scale of the problems and influence systemic change (96%); they identify grantees you could not identify on your own (96%); you can be part of a community of funders with aligned interests and strategies (92%).

What’s happening around the world?

With more funders moving towards leaner, collaborative giving models, the Bridgespan Group has been gathering intelligence on this growing area of philanthropy, with Gates Foundation support. Some of the key characteristics Bridgespan is identifying include:

• Collaborative funds are overwhelmingly led by women (75%), and more likely to be led by people who are black, Indigenous or people of colour (64%)
• Participatory grantmaking is used by 38% of collaborative funds
• The top four issues that collaborative funds focus on require large-scale, systemic changes. They include gender equality, climate, democracy and racial justice
• The 500 funds Bridgespan has connected with give between US$4-7bn annually. Excitingly, they have the existing capacity to move US$20bn, or three to five times the resources they direct annually.

What’s involved in running a collaborative fund?

Alongside the growth of collaborative funding models over the last 10 years, knowledge about what it takes to do this work well has been developing.

Running collaborative funds requires:

• Mastering multidimensional thinking – engaging funders, identifying partners and opportunities, building a learning community, supporting an ecosystem while being part of it, taking risks in progressing practice, evaluating across all aspects of the work, and on it goes!
• Spreading a mindset shift in the philanthropic sector towards a shared strategy for big collective wins rather than individual visions of success.
• Being trusted orchestrators of the capital needed and when, where and how it is to be deployed to achieve change. This capital includes funding, knowledge, expertise and relationships.

As I headed back to Melbourne, buoyed by the connection with and affirmation from a global community, my brain was buzzing with what could come next for Mannifera and our philanthropic sector more broadly.  We know that the growth in collaborative funding is happening in Australia too.

Mannifera has some outstanding peers in Groundswell Giving, Rainbow Giving Australia, the Nature Impact Collective and many others, and we’re committed to continuing to fly the flag for this way of giving. 

Mannifera is a collective of Australian funders supporting a fairer democracy and economy. Mannifera was launched in 2019 by a group of values-aligned Australian funders. They work together to invest in civil society organisations advocating for a fair and equitable democracy and economy.

Photo caption – left to right: Sarah Jekiel, Girls First Fund, Eszter Filippinyi, TAI Collaborative and Harriet McCallum, Mannifera.