220: Learning from Our Journey: Leveraging Past Insights to Guide Trust-Based Philanthropy in Cultivating Thriving Communities

In the era of trust-based philanthropy (TBP), funders prioritize grantee-defined metrics and flexible, adaptive learning over standardized outcomes, emphasizing equity and contextual relevance. This shift presents challenges for evaluators aiming to synthesize diverse, grantee-specific outcomes into a coherent, system-level understanding of impact. This paper presents a meta-analysis of grant-funded initiatives focused on strengthening neighborhoods through equity-driven, community-centered interventions, addressing neighborhood stability, economic growth, and social cohesion. Drawing on data from 12 organizations, the analysis reveals effective strategies, systemic challenges, and equity outcomes. The methodological framework integrates a transformative, systemic approach, enabling equity-centered evaluation at the program level, systemic power analysis at the portfolio level, and actionable guidance for social justice-oriented grantmaking. This presentation offers practical frameworks for evaluating initiatives that acknowledge the complexity and fluidity of social change work. Attendees will gain practical knowledge in using meta-analysis for systems-level learning that strengthens TBP and amplifies community voice in decision-making.

Kate Piotrowski – Hartford Foundation for Public Giving