The epiphany of place

Why place matters

Place-based suggests being in, of, and for a defined territory. Many foundation types, including those that are, or were, established as a family foundation, or linked to a business or local financial institution, are committed to place-based philanthropy. However, I contest that those that adhere to the characteristics of a community foundation, offer a distinctive institutional form and approach that is best placed to add value and to maximise impact in the long term on physical, social, environmental, economic and cultural dimensions of the area and ultimately therefore on the well-being of all its citizens.

There is a growing movement across Europe, with a field of over 900 in 26 countries, which is richly diverse in terms of age, stage of development, scale, form and function. There is however so much more potential – not only in filling the gaps where they do not exist, but also in what they do, and in working with others with an interest in their locality. Once recognised as significant and trusted players in the ecosystem of their locality they can be the key to unlocking collective impact and realising socio-economic transformation.  

As global challenges become greater it appears, from many recent discussions in the philanthropy world, that there is a growing interest in the local, with an appreciation that place and context matter, and that citizen engagement and participative approaches are conducive to more effective and more democratic philanthropy.

Place lies at the heart of sustainable development. It is where aspects relating to People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, Partnership intertwine and impact directly on people’s lives. Place is where the solutions to the unique set of interconnected issues can be found.

Community foundations: locally anchored, invested in relationships and here for the long haul

Community foundations mobilise and invest human, technical and financial resources in a specific geographical area, serving as catalysts, convenors, collaborators and facilitators to solve problems and develop solutions to important community issues. Above all they are rooted in the place, they have ‘skin in the game’ and ‘staying power’, and are committed to building cohesive, resilient communities.

The focus on a geography allows them to be holistic. They can combine an appreciation of practical realities of identity intersectionality, an understanding of the compounding effects of multiple deprivation and social and economic exclusion, and an ability to join the dots to envision and build a better place for its citizens. Their proximity enables them to have the empathy to act appropriately and urgently where necessary, addressing the here and now, but to have a long-term perspective. Utilising their profound knowledge (and community wisdom) of the place, and the systems that impact on it, they can tackle complex and persistent contemporary issues comprehensively, and seek to bring about transformational change. They thus can move beyond being fixers to become healers.

Place is where macro and micro systems (and others between) collide. The issue of the geographical scale of the coverage of the community foundation therefore becomes relevant. Those operating at a very local level, such as in a neighbourhood or village, are presented by challenges around aligning and engaging with other actors / stakeholders in the system that impacts on them. At the other end of the spectrum, those at regional or national level have to find the structures and means to ensure they are and remain relevant and connected with local communities. No matter where they lie across the spectrum of scale the critical issue is that there is a coherent sense of place as a meaningful space that people identity with and / or belong to.

From crisis response to tackling challenges at their roots

Recently, community foundations have been seen as critical players capable of addressing the fall-out from, for example, extreme weather, migration, or the cost-of-living crisis. However, less reported is their consideration of indirect impacts and their thinking beyond the immediate needs, to recovery and causes. Many also are unsung heroes, bringing about transformation through driving and investing in alternative socio-economic systems – mutual aid, co-operative housing, restorative justice, community gardens, circular economy (re-use / upcycling), regenerative agriculture, Local Exchange Trading (LET), Credit Unions, Citizen Assemblies etc.

Much of this is relational, and shifts from dealing with consequences to changing systems. Acutely attuned to their locality, community foundation boards and staff can read relevant signals to anticipate change, and thus seek to avoid or mitigate the effects of negative social tipping points and encourage progress towards positive ones, through systems and behavioural adaptations.

Systems thinking is therefore a starting point. Not simply as functional connections or ‘wiring’, but more as a dynamic, multi-dimensional and inter-dependent ecosystem. Rather than continuing to address symptoms and effects of systems failure or a lack of stability and harmony in the ecosystem, it may soon become evident that action is required to reconnect, reconfigure, or heal fragmented or broken systems. Community foundations can play an important facilitating role, in particular where other systems actors are entrapped in ways of doing things that are, at best, not working, and possibly making things worse. They can draw on the help overcome impermeability of boundaries, make connections, help identify common purpose and apply social imagination. It might even require reprogramming the algorithm of individual and collective mindsets where they have been corrupted by institutional biases. While in principle being stoical, community foundations should constantly explore and reassess what they have perceived to be beyond their control or the control of communities in their locality, and consider how, with some social imagination, they can change systems.Importantly within the system community foundations have to develop the confidence and credibility to present themselves as more than merely transaction agents but as relationship builders and catalysts.

Trust and belonging: the intangible assets that change everything

This takes time and skill. It is a particularly difficult aspect of a community foundations work to find resources for, mainly because it is often unrecognised or under-sold. Furthermore, such a role is not a given, it has to be earned. Building social capital in all dimensions – bonding, bridging and linking, requires constant attention and investment. Trust has to be built and maintained.

With rising populism, democratic back-sliding, increasing economic disparity, and the climate crisis, place-based philanthropy can offer a counter-narrative, provided that a sense of belonging is imbued among all citizens. Of course, for far too many, their place can be alienating – temporarily or permanently. This is perhaps where the institution of a community foundation which, being holistic, valuing the richness of diversity, and having empathy with those on the margins and experiencing exclusion, can shine as a beacon of hope. A primary ambition for a community foundation must be to recognise this and to seek to ensure that the processes and practices can be put in place, and maintained, to foster inclusion and social cohesion, coping with fast moving social dynamics. This requires proactively seeking to utilise leadership, expertise, and insights of people with relevant ‘lived experience’ and perspectives, and acting on signals, to anticipate and imagine new ways of doing things, to realise better futures. If not, there is a risk of perpetuating the status quo and forever being caught in the trap of being a local fixer addressing an ever-growing list of bigger and more complex problems.

Call to action

The call to action is to think of place as the locus for effective holistic action and local systems change, and to consider how to support the further development of the community foundation movement.

It takes time for community foundations to reach their potential, capable of acting at an appropriate scale for transformational impact. They have to:

• earn the trust of donors, partners and stakeholders;
• demonstrate their value added as sources of knowledge, as connectors, as catalysts;
• build sufficient social, human, and financial capital;
• position the organisation in the philanthropy and local development ecosystem.

Those who believe in place-based philanthropy should therefore be prepared to invest in building this form of philanthropic institution and support infrastructure that is capable of not only implementing it effectively but developing it from within.

[1] Community foundation characteristics – European Community Foundation Initiative (ECFI):

Philanthropic institutions that mobilise and invest technical and financial resources in a specific geographical area, and which:

• are independent and governed by a board of citizens with an understanding of / is broadly reflective of the communities they serve;
• seek to build, over time, assets and funds from a wide range of donors, including local citizens, other foundations, businesses, and public bodies;
• accumulate and deploy capital (in various forms – human, financial, physical, intellectual, social and cultural) to make grants or implement activities that address a wide variety of needs in the locality;
• engage in a range of community leadership and partnership activities, serving as catalysts, convenors, collaborators and facilitators to solve problems and develop solutions to important community issues.