Following the Future of Funding
Subscribe
Donate
search
close
Explore Our Archive
Grassroots Grantmaking
|
Perspective
A Compounding Funding Crisis Threatening Global Movements
Behind closed boardroom doors, a quiet transformation is reshaping the human rights funding landscape
Rachel Thomas & Kellea Miller
|
Publisher's Note
Philanthropy's Monopoly Era Has Ended
About this issue of Grassroots Grantmaking
Ben Wrobel
|
The Name We Almost Had
Three years later, "Team Spirit" makes more sense than ever
Ben Wrobel
Grassroots Grantmaking
|
Perspective
Is the Era of Foundation Dominance Coming to a Close?
Philanthropic Beltway discourse centers foundations. But money is increasingly flowing elsewhere
Jan Masaoka
On Media
|
Column
Introducing… On Media
A new column for Proximate examining narratives, visibility, and the media that shapes how we think about philanthropy
Tirrea Billings
|
Who Will Govern the Global Commons?
How philanthropy, banking and consumer choice could reshape global governance
Jonah Wittkamper and Kate Landon
Grassroots Grantmaking
|
Q&A
Philanthropy Is Learned. It Can Be Relearned.
University of Chicago lecturer and donor advisor Jessyca Dudley on why philanthropic norms are neither timeless nor inevitable
Ben Wrobel
Participatory Investing
|
Q&A
A Conversation with Ann Boger, Former COO of the Freelancers Union Health Insurance Company
Ann shares lessons on building mutual, inclusive, and portable worker benefits.
Val Elefante
Homegrown Horizons
|
Column
Africa's Next Philanthropic Architecture
From Addis Ababa to Sudan, leaders are building the institutions needed to move decisions closer to community
Vincent Mwangi
Grassroots Grantmaking
|
Perspective
We're Building Kingdoms. Community-Centric Fundraising Demands We Build Movements.
The sector's obsession with organizational survival is the very thing preventing the change we exist to create.
Maria Rio
Beyond Elections
|
Feature
Inside a Kentucky City’s Unusual Experiment in Citizen-Led Governance
In Lexington, 36 random residents took part in one of the country’s first civic assemblies to recommend changes to the city’s governing charter.
Anabel Peterman
|
Perspective
Young Climate Leaders Are Outpacing Funder Expectations
Joshua Amponsem of Youth Climate Justice is showing funders that youth is not in fact wasted on the young.
Keefe Murren
Taking Root
|
What's Taking Root?
What we’re reading, watching, and questioning across the field
Vanessa Stevens
Power in Proximity
|
Column
The Hidden Infrastructure of Climate Finance
What NEAR's new report and London Climate Action Week revealed
Maria Amalia Souza
|
Proximate In Person
Event Recap: Future of Development Roundtable in Oxford
On the sidelines of Skoll, we partnered with funders and community actors to discuss collaboration and shifting systems
MacKenzie Bills and Michael Jarvis
|
Proximate In Person
Event Recap: Who Holds Power in the Future of Development?
On the sidelines of World Bank spring meetings, partners and community leaders came together to discuss locally-led solutions
Proximate Team
Proximate Brasil
|
Analysis
What international donors don’t get about Brazilian philanthrop(ies)
Brazilian philanthropy is often treated as a single, unified field, but that’s an oversimplification of a diverse and complex sector.
Maria Amalia Souza
Repairing Development
|
Proximate In Person
Potatoes & Progress
East Africa’s potato boom is transforming farming, markets, and food security through innovation and rising demand
Wambui JL
|
Feature
Trump and Jenniffer González Derail Energy Cooperative Progress in Puerto Rico
Philanthropists discuss how to mitigate the funding setback and contribute to energy resilience for low-income communities
Juan A. Hernández and Laura M. Quintero
Participatory Investing
|
This Bronx Project Is Setting a New Standard for Community-Controlled Development
The Kingsbridge Armory is now the site of one of the country’s most ambitious experiments in community ownership and shared control.
Oscar Perry Abello
Participatory Investing
|
Feature
A Community Land Trust Is Raising the Bar for Community Power in Economic Development
Denver’s Tierra Colectiva is showing how residents can shape — and own — mixed-use projects at a scale once reserved for private developers.
Oscar Perry Abello
|
Q&A
In Conversation: Marie-Rose Romain Murphy
Born from post-earthquake aid failures, Haiti’s community foundation model centers relationships as infrastructure
Keefe Murren
|
Q&A
In Conversation: John Coonrad
As bilateral aid recedes, a decade-old global movement for community-led development has a long-term strategy
Keefe Murren
|
Q&A
In Conversation: Vincent Mwangi
Inside Mama Hope’s model for sourcing, strengthening, and funding early-stage local organizations that are overlooked
Keefe Murren
|
Q&A
In Conversation: Amina Evangelista Swanepoel
Roots of Health traces how long-term trust with government – and flexible funding – shifts outcomes on the ground
Keefe Murren
|
Editorial
Looking Ahead and Growing our Team
New hires and what's coming up in 2026
Ben Wrobel
|
Perspective
Dignity by Design: A New Architecture for International Aid
We need to design for collaboration and shared outcomes
Alía Tall-Khatib
Seeding Power
|
Q&A
From Funders to Allies: Lessons from the Nyéléni Forum
A conversation about the role of philanthropy in supporting movements
Ben Wrobel
Seeding Power
|
Perspective
Redesigning Finance from the Ground Up
We need to put farmers and ecosystems at the center of food systems finance
Laura Thompson
Seeding Power
|
Perspective
Supporting the Food Sovereignty Movement Over the Long Haul Takes Solidarity Philanthropy
The movement has built itself on global long-term vision – will allied funders get on board?
Chung-Wha Hong and Saulo Araujo
|
Perspective
Architects of the Future: How Young Feminist Artists Are Leading Cultural Change
Jody Myrum and Erin Lynn Williams
|
Perspective
To Restore the Middle Class, We Need More Owners
An excerpt from Capital Evolution: The New American Economy
Seth Levine and Elizabeth MacBride
Community Philanthropy
|
Perspective
What The Global South House Reveals About Power and Philanthropy at COP30
Inside an architecture of collaboration built by Global South networks
Paula Tanscheit
Grassroots Grantmaking
|
Perspective
Reimagining Giving for Animal Protection – a Trust-Based Approach
Why trust, not algorithms, will shape the future of animal advocacy
Ondine Sherman
Participatory Investing
|
Perspective
Reclaiming Place: the Kensington Corridor Trust Model
A Philadelphia neighborhood trust shows how local ownership can build lasting community strength
Sandhya Nakhasi
Grassroots Grantmaking
|
Q&A
This Calculator Knows What It Costs To Get Funded
A new tool from Shifting the Funding Paradigm looks to expose the hidden collective cost of grant applications
Proximate
Grassroots Grantmaking
|
Perspective
Wherefore Participatory Grantmaking in the Age of Urgency?
Care about democracy? Make it part of your grantmaking process
Cynthia Gibson and Kelley Buhles
Repairing Development
|
Column
The Future of Development is Stuck on Semantics
When we focus too much on definitions, real needs go unmet
Isabelle Clérié
Participatory Investing
|
Editorial
When Participatory Investing Meets Compassion
The next era of participatory investing needs to embed compassion, too
Ben Wrobel and Brooke Tucker
|
Are We Leveraging Our Collective Power?
Reflections on Dreaming, Intergenerational Knowledge, and Feminist Practice
Divya Mukand, Theo Sowa, and Laura Vergara
|
Editorial
The Global South House is Coming to COP30
This year in Bélem, a new space will host conversations about shifting power in climate finance
Ben Wrobel
Donor Advising
|
Perspective
Setting the Philanthropic Advising Field Free
Philanthropy doesn’t need more gatekeepers – it needs open source information
Molly Judge
Participatory Investing
|
Q&A
Five Myths About Participatory Investing and the Law
An interview with Bruce Campbell on structuring participatory investment vehicles
Ben Wrobel
Participatory Investing
|
Analysis
How Two Growing Communities Attracted Capital for Affordable Housing
In the Coachella Valley and Atlanta, the Capital Absorption Framework helped build a pipeline for affordable housing
Dmitriy Ioselevich
Seeding Power
|
Q&A
What Seed Sovereignty Looks Like When Women Lead the Way
Nous Sommes la Solution is a movement of rural women fighting for agroecology and seed sovereignty
Isabelle Clérié
Participatory Investing
|
Analysis
Reimagining the Playbook for Communities Seeking Private Investment
The Capital Absorption Framework empowers community leaders to take a more active role in leveraging private capital
Dmitriy Ioselevich
Proximate Brasil
|
Strategic Philanthropy Goes to Therapy: Session Two
The second part of an ongoing series
Joana Ribeiro Mortari
Common Ground
|
Feature
Reclaiming the Commons: A New Vision for Nonprofit Infrastructure
Why shared management – not isolated entities – should be the default
Thaddeus Squire
Proximate Brasil
|
Column
Filantropia Estratégica no Divã: Segunda Sessão
A segunda parte de uma série
Joana Ribeiro Mortari
Common Ground
|
Predictions
Solving the Puzzle of Feminist Fiscal Sponsorship
Recommendations for funders and fiscal sponsors on a "thorny" tension
Bipasha Ray
Grassroots Grantmaking
|
Q&A
New Seneca Village Sees Restoration as Core to Leadership
At the edge of burnout, a new model for healing movement leaders takes root
Proximate
1 / 6
Next
© 2026 PROXIMATE
® ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site you consent to these cookies.
Learn more
Deny
Accept All
.png)
%20(7).png)
.png)
%20(1280%20x%20720%20px)%20(46).png)
.webp)
%20(1280%20x%20720%20px)%20(10).webp)
