How to Name and Navigate the Power You Hold as a Funder

Learn how funding power shapes every relationship in the grantmaking ecosystem and how to hold it with greater awareness.

About This Training

Funders hold enormous power in the nonprofit ecosystem, and that power shapes every interaction with grantees, applicants, and communities, often in ways that are invisible to the funder. This training helps foundation staff see the power dynamics their position creates and build practices for navigating those dynamics with honesty, humility, and care.

What You'll Learn

• How funding power shapes grantee behavior, communication, and willingness to be honest
• How to recognize the patterns that develop when grantees manage up to funders rather than speaking truthfully
• How to create the conditions where grantees can be honest about challenges without fear of losing funding
• How to examine your own assumptions and behaviors as a funder
• How to build practices that distribute power more equitably across the funder-grantee relationship

Practical Takeaways

• A power dynamics self-assessment for your role as a funder
• A set of practices for reducing the power distortion in grantee relationships
• Language for opening honest conversations about power with grantees

Designed for: Foundation staff, program officers, and grantmaking leadership.