Six Pilots, One Learning Journey
Participatory grantmaking is a growing ethos in philanthropy, where funders cede power over funding decisions to the people affected by those decisions. It includes a wide range of practices, such as co-creation of strategy and priorities, diversification of grant committees and review panels, or even crowd-sourced decisions and voting by large groups. These methods enable grantmaking to benefit from the expertise of those closest to the issue, often leading to more effective, innovative, and sustainable solutions.
CJRF decided to shift to participatory grantmaking through a “learning by doing” approach. At a retreat in February 2024, board and staff members designed a program of participatory grantmaking pilots that allowed us to try several methods and explore the appetite of our network members for engagement. From the February 2024 decision through late 2025, we ran six participatory grantmaking pilots:
Global
We conducted a broad open call using an applicant collective process, where applicants reviewed each other’s proposals and voted to select awardees;
Bay of Bengal
Our Loss and Damage team tested a network-based grantmaking process where a cohort of current and former CJRF grantee partners nominated new grant partners;
Mara-Serengeti
A systems mapping methodology supported movement actors to co-create a grantmaking strategy across the Kenya-Tanzania border;
East Africa
Our Loss and Damage team developed a fast-paced, trust-based model that empowered individual “changemakers” in the region to each make a grant;
Small Grants
We tested much smaller grants than CJRF has typically made in the past using a network based grantmaking process;
Andes Pilots
Our Loss and Damage team engaged with CJRF’s network to test a “pass on” model of sharing the call for applications.
