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Examine the purpose and ethics of philanthropy. Explore questions like: what and who is philanthropy designed for? How might philanthropy be re-designed, and who should decide?

In this section you will find blog posts that help you...

Grapple with moral purpose

Sure, your organization has a mission and values -- but does it have an underlying moral purpose? What are its particular responsibilities in the world, and who ought to decide? Look at different purposes and hone your discernment on what makes for a strong purpose.

Define community

We talk about foundations, especially community foundations, as having community benefit. But, what is a community and who makes up a community? Gain exposure to different ways to conceptualize and clarify what you mean by community.

Make ethical decisions

So many of the decisions foundation leaders face are moral questions about attracting, amassing, and allocating resources. These are distributive justice questions. Surface your default distributive logics, and consider other logics.

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A racially diverse group of primary school aged children on stage, singing into microphones, with flag stands in the background.

Theme: Narrative Type: Case study

Healing Work Before Systems Change

W.K. Kellogg Foundation added a racial analysis to its mission, reflecting a more explicit narrative about root causes and their role in addressing them.

Theme: Intergenerational Type: Introductory

Introduction to Intergenerational Stories

Grapple with the idea of relationships across time. How much should foundations focus on the urgencies of the present, right wrongs of the past, or lay the groundwork for future generations?

Man standing at an easel talking to a small group

Theme: Decisions Type: Generative

Make Your Own Case Study

Download the worksheet and critically examine a recent decision. What logics & lenses were at play? What would happen if you tried on different distributive logics and ethical lenses?

A group of people surround an outdoor fire-pit as some roast marshmallows

Theme: Narrative Type: Core concepts

Narrative & Story as a Levers for Systems Change

Understand the power of story & narrative in conveying ideas about causation, possibility, beliefs, and values -- which can be used intentionally to drive change.

Woman with mid-length black straight hair carrying shoulder bag stands looking at a bookshelf, and away from the camera.

Theme: Purpose Type: Case study

Unpacking Neutrality at the Public Library

Delve into the controversial question of whether an organization can or should ever be neutral. Let's learn from the lively debate over at the public library.

Photograph of two people facing a wall, placing interconnected string onto a board

Theme: Narrative Type: Core concepts

Navigating Complexity

Grapple with the challenge of influencing a complex system. Appreciate how experimentation, emergence, and creativity can serve better than subject expertise and rationality.

A photograph of a group of people standing in an alley, all facing the same direction. One man is swinging a young boy in the air.

Theme: Boundaries Type: Core concepts

Defining Community

Gain conceptual tools to define 'community' and identify what's at stake in being able to articulate philanthropy in relation to specific communities.

A person adds a dot sticker to a poster titled "What matters to us" to indicate that "Belonging & Connection" is a top value.

Theme: Purpose Type: Provocative

Putting Purpose into Words

Study what makes for a purpose statement you can be guided and inspired by: compare the statements of purpose from several Canadian Community Foundations and grow your own sense of discernment about what makes purpose more or less powerful.

Four people stand looking at a wall covered in blue posters. Each describes a different philanthropic purpose and they are adding post-it notes to them.

Theme: Purpose Type: Provocative

Other Purposes

Get inspired by leaders pursuing bold philanthropic purposes that repurpose the inherited content of philanthropy for modern contexts.

Photograph of a poster with a grey triangle. On top there is text "Values, Beliefs & Logics", in the middle "Roles, Relationships & Power Dynamics", at the bottom "Practices, Policies & Resource flows"

Theme: Narrative Type: Core concepts

Philanthropy is a Complex System

Philanthropy is a complex system, shaped by human values, beliefs, relationships, and power dynamics. Get a handle on what makes a system complex.

A photograph of the facade of the HistoryMiami museum.

Theme: Boundaries Type: Case study

The HistoryMiami Museum is Changed by Trans Youth

Learn how one community institution becomes more participatory by moving beyond consultations, professional experts, and project timelines.

Group of people outside meeting each other

Theme: Boundaries Type: Core concepts

Working with Difference

Learn about four narrative frames for understanding difference within our communities. Explore how frames drive action, and try on alternative frames.

Theme: Purpose Type: Core concepts

What is Purpose?

Differentiate purpose from strategy and understand its power in organizations to imbue every structure, process, role, and communication with greater meaning.

A photograph of a woman holds up cards in front of a group

Theme: Narrative Type: Core concepts

Philanthropy is a System

We can use systems thinking to sense philanthropy's potential for social impact, as well as how it might be part of conditions that hold wicked social and environmental problems in place.

Two people stand in front of a fireplace with bunting-like string hanging from one side of the mantel to the other, and use clothes pegs to hang note cards with their hand written ideas about barriers to and enablers of learning.

Theme: Learning Type: Generative

Leveraging PurposePhil for Organizational Learning

Get an overview of all PurposePhil resources and make your own action learning plan!

Three people sitting around a table outdoors. On the table is a big blue poster, cups, saucers, smaller pieces of paper, glue sticks, and writing implements. They are adding to the poster.

Theme: Purpose Type: Core concepts

Purpose & Narrative: Peas in a Pod

Understand how to communicate purpose so that it can be lived and understood in context, through narrative!

Black and white image of smoke stacks on the horizon

Theme: Narrative Type: Case study

From Ecological to Equity Frame

Chorus Foundation learned how social processes determine the equity of sustainable economies so they re-articulated their purpose as "just transitions."

Theme: Decisions Type: Core concepts

Logics For Deciding Who Gets What

How do we divide resources justly? Explore the concept of "distributive justice" and other logics that can help us make decisions about how to allocate resources fairly.

A statue on the left, a group of people standing in circle next to it. Market stands on the right.

Theme: Learning Type: Core concepts

Learning in Complex Systems

Understand what it means to be working in the realm of complexity. Learn about collaborative inquiry, a process that can help us build alternative perspectives on systems that we are part of.

A group of Vancouver Foundation staff sit on benches around a fire pit, roasting marshmallows.

Theme: Learning Type: Case study

Vancouver Foundation's PurposePhil Journey

Learn about Vancouver Foundation's PurposePhil journey. From surfacing values logics to grappling with purpose. Come along on VF's very own learning journey.

People looking at a map on the floor with large, 3D paper markers

Theme: Boundaries Type: Core concepts

Understanding Boundaries

Philanthropies navigate many communities. Here, understand how membership in multiple communities meets individual and collective needs.

Theme: Decisions Type: Core concepts

Making Ethical Decisions

Explore six ethical lenses that can help us surface our default logics and offer alternative ethical frameworks for decision making.

group of people looking at posters hanging on wall

Theme: Decisions Type: Core concepts

How Do We Make Decisions?

Mental shortcuts lead to biased decision-making. 'Fast thinking' can help us make quick decisions, and it can lead to error in judgement, especially when it comes to moral decisions.

Two people in conversation, sitting outside at picnic table, facing each other

Theme: Decisions Type: Case study

Four Case Studies of Decision-Making

A series of mini-case studies. Read about the experiments of four different organizations who align decision making with their values and purpose.

These days, Kettering Foundation is a convener of people around shared questions about citizen led democracies.

Theme: Narrative Type: Case study

From Technological Innovation to "the Democratic Urge"

From technological innovation to how citizens and political systems can work together to drive change: Learn from Kettering Foundation's big narrative pivot.

Two women sitting at a booth looking at each other through masks and consulting a script

Theme: Boundaries Type: Provocative

Furthering Participation

Encounter Nina Simon's argument that community institutions must not only engage people much more broadly, but seek to be changed by their participation - or risk irrelevance.

A room full of what appear to be staff celebrating: purple and white balloons adorn the ceiling

Theme: Purpose Type: Case study

How Visa Became a 'Chaordic' Organization

Learn from the influential founder of Visa about why every organization needs a moral purpose, and how that purpose unifies, galvanizes, and enlivens any collective endeavour.

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