More than philanthropy: reflections on giving collaboratively
Over the past 18 months, the team at CSP has had the privilege of incubating two collaborative giving initiatives: Aotearoa Lifecourse Fund (ALF) and AMPLIFY - Financial Education Fund. Both have involved givers telling us they’re interested in exploring partnerships and collaborations as a way of contributing to meaningful change in a cause area. Here are a few insights about what we’re learning.
Collaborative giving initiatives bring together a group of givers around a shared cause, pooling resources and, in some cases, sharing decision-making, to make more of a difference than they might individually. The model takes many forms, and it isn’t new. There are many powerful local examples encouraging a collective or collaborative approach to philanthropy, and it’s a trend that’s growing internationally too. A recent article in Alliance Magazine, “Collective and collaborative giving: More than money, more than philanthropy”, provides an interesting perspective on why this might be the case, suggesting that collaborative giving taps into something deeply human - our instinct to act together in support of each other.
A spark of shared energy and purpose
The opportunity to support givers in this kind of collaboration came following our Making Moonshots Possible event, where Jimmy McLauchlan shared his experience of scaling ENGAGE - an evidence-based and fun way to help preschoolers to build self-regulation skills. For us, that shared moment of energy and purpose became the seed from which the first of these CSP-incubated initiatives - Aotearoa Lifecourse Fund (now also called ALF), under the leadership of Izzy Horrocks and Jimmy McLauchlan - began to form.
Aotearoa Lifecourse Fund brings together a small group of givers focused on improving long-term outcomes for young people.“ALF aims to find, fund and scale evidence-based programmes that improve the lifecourse outcomes of tamariki and rangatahi in Aotearoa.” - Aotearoa Lifecourse Fund
In a similar way, the second initiative we’ve supported in its development - AMPLIFY - Financial Education Fund, led by Kate Coles - pools contributions to help make quality financial education more accessible, inclusive, and effective for school-aged tamariki and rangatahi across Aotearoa. “Empowering young people in Aotearoa to build strong financial foundations.” - AMPLIFY - Financial Education Fund
CSP’s role: incubation and providing the scaffolding
In both cases, CSP’s role has been to set up and create the conditions for collaboration - bringing together givers, resource, and sector experts to “provide the scaffolding” for a collective giving entity to emerge - nurturing conversations and building enough structure for something new to stand up, without determining exactly what it will become - and providing credibility and skills to enable successful start-up. The direction, priorities and investment decisions in the end sit with each fund’s independent governance group.
Learning together
We know that collaboration takes work and energy in this context. Trusted relationships sit at the centre and take time to build. And while each collaborative giving initiative is different, and so is the support required, clear decision-making and strong governance are essential. What has been encouraging is seeing the potential that comes from pooling resources and energy - to support the initiatives themselves, and to create opportunities for learning, connection, and stronger partnerships.
As Alliance Magazine observes, "If philanthropy is about more than money, then collective and collaborative giving is about more than philanthropy.” We’re grateful to those involved in Aotearoa Lifecourse Fund and AMPLIFY for the opportunity to learn more about how to support this approach thoughtfully, for a better Aotearoa, and we're excited to keep sharing what we're finding along the way.
Find out more about Aotearoa Lifecourse Fund (ALF)
Find out more about AMPLIFY - Financial Education Fund