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Community-Driven Philanthropy – 2025 Remote Learning Series

Through the Community-Driven Philanthropy series, participants will have the opportunity to explore the practices that matter most to nonprofits through a combination of in-depth learning, practical examples, and thought-provoking discussions with the GEO community!

Registration for the 2025 Community-Driven Philanthropy Remote Learning Series is now open and closes on March 4 at 5:00 p.m. ET, or once we reach 50 participants, whichever comes first. Registration fills up fast so don’t wait to sign up!

Sessions will be facilitated via Zoom. Registered participants will receive pre-reading materials and login information one week prior to the series start.

Dates:
Sessions will be held weekly on Thursdays from 2:00-4:00 pm ET for a total of six sessions.
Starts: March 6, 2025
Ends: April 10, 2025

Informational Recording:
If you missed the informational session or want to revisit key insights, you can watch it here. Please provide your details and use the password GEOcdp2025! when prompted by Zoom.

Contact Us:
If you have any questions about this Remote Learning Series, please contact our Program Development Manager, Joyce McDonough, at mcdonough@geofunders.org.

This highly interactive, six-session online learning series gives grantmakers in the GEO community the opportunity to learn from their peers about Community-Driven Philanthropy grantmaking approaches. Expert guest speakers will also be on hand. Participants will explore the practices that matter most to nonprofits through a combination of in-depth learning, practical examples, and thought-provoking discussions.

In this six-part series, participants will:

  • Build capacity for having difficult conversations around the historically rooted relationship between philanthropy and community distrust.
  • Understand the conditions necessary to build and sustain trust with community members and the need for building the capacity for long-term social change.
  • Start to map and analyze power at the individual, organizational, and community levels to create plans to identify ways in which philanthropy can equitably cede power to communities and with nonprofit partners.
  • Plan current and future community-driven actions by understanding and using tools such as the Community and Nonprofit Participation Spectrum* and Philanthropic Processes for Participation.
  • Apply high-quality feedback loops as a critical way to inform community-driven philanthropy and to center practices in equity.
  • Analyze various toolboxes in the sector, including resources from key partners such as Fund for Shared Insight, Feedback Labs, Engage R+D, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, to enhance future community-driven philanthropy efforts.
  • Lean into current diagnoses, analyses and interpretations of our roles and the sector of philanthropy; and envision a future of community-driven integration and systems change.
  • Connect and build relationships with other GEO community members who can be a resource and support in implementing community-driven philanthropy in their work.

This is not your average “online webinar” series! Sessions are active and the curriculum is delivered using a variety of modes including chat activities, breakout room discussions, full group discussion, polls, white boarding, Padlet, and other tools. Every session includes assigned homework and readings.

This series is highly interactive and active participation is required to gain the most from this course.

GEO Remote Learning Series are open to current GEO members; all staff and trustees of grantmaking institutions; staff of philanthropy-supporting infrastructure groups, such as regional associations of grantmakers and affinity groups; and staff of academic institutions and programs focused primarily on the study of philanthropy and the practice of giving.

Additionally, we encourage organizations to have multiple individuals at their organization participate in order to apply your learning together. Please contact our team if you are interested in enrolling a group of three or more colleagues.

Our Remote Learning Series participant eligibility policy intends to create a space where participants can speak openly and candidly about challenges within their work while also allowing people from a variety of grantmaking and philanthropy-supporting organizations to participate in the series.

GEO will only accept participant registrations that are in accordance with our eligibility policy. GEO has the discretion to edit your submission, in accordance with our policies, and will alert participants to any changes.

If you are not a GEO member and are interested in becoming a member, please visit our membership page or email our Membership department at membership@geofunders.org.

Complete session dates are as follows:

  • Session 1: Thursday, March 6th, 2:00 – 4:00 pm ET
  • Session 2: Thursday, March 13th, 2:00 – 4:00 pm ET
  • Session 3: Thursday, March 20th, 2:00 – 4:00 pm ET
  • Session 4: Thursday, March 27th, 2:00 – 4:00 pm ET
  • Session 5: Thursday, April 3rd, 2:00 – 4:00 pm ET
  • Session 6: Thursday, April 10th, 2:00 – 4:00 pm ET

Costs

  • $650 – Current GEO Members
  • $1000 – Non-GEO members
  • Group Discount available! If you have three or more individuals from your organization ready to register, please contact us for a 10% discounted group rate (capped at five individuals per institution).

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