Wisdom Funders’ Network

Wisdom Funders’ Network (WFN) is a new non-profit community of inquiry and practice composed of individual and institutional donors and non-profit leaders dedicated to the practice of wisdom and to articulating and practicing new stories for philanthropy.  We define wisdom as a practice and a way of knowing marked by its humility. We recognize the limits of our knowledge and seek to create the conditions for wisdom to emerge and guide us and the field of philanthropy toward more effective ways of working.

The aim of WFN is to contribute to the evolution of the field of philanthropy and toward discovering new ways of working that are in alignment with and supportive of the radical innovation needed at this time.  To accomplish this, WFN is convening an on-going series of dialogues and communications between grantors and grantees to share stories, exchange ideas, learn from each other and articulate and strengthen new ways of working. The intent is to create the conditions for collaborative relationships to develop, collective wisdom to form, new stories to be articulated, and ultimately “a system of influence” to emerge. This strategy is based on a theory of change articulated as follows by Margaret Wheatley:

“We don’t need to convince large numbers of people to change; instead, we need to connect with kindred spirits. This is why networks are so important.  But networks aren’t the whole story. They need to evolve into intentional working relationships where new knowledge, practices, courage, and commitment can develop, such as happens in Communities of Practice. From these relationships, emergence becomes possible.  Emergence is the process by which all large-scale change happens on this planet.  Separate, local efforts connect and strengthen their interactions and interdependencies.  What emerges as these become stronger is a system of influence, a powerful cultural shift that then greatly influences behaviors and defines accepted practices.”

Unlike most donor networks that are organized around bringing like-minded funders together around a specific issue or funding niche, WFN attracts donors from many niches who share a common commitment to a way of working and a way of knowing that is characterized by balance.  This includes a balance between outer and inner, head and heart, light and shadow, action and inquiry, planning and emergence, cognition and intuition, and masculine and feminine. Given the current predominantly masculine orientation of all fields, including philanthropy, achieving balance would suggest the need for more emphasis on the feminine, inner, heart, shadow, inquiry, intuition, and emergence aspects of philanthropy.

WFN is designed as a virtual initiative run by 1-2 part-time staff and steered by a small group of advisors. It serves approximately 200 donors and non-profit leaders and is administered financially by the non-profit “YES!”  We are grateful to the those individuals and foundations who have thus far contributed seed funding to the initiative including 1440 Foundation, Fenwick, Fetzer, the Omidyar Network, the Whitman Institute, Angeles Arrien, Jeffry Walker and Marion Weber.

Looking to the future, WFN plans to anchor and advance its inquiry through yearly gatherings and toward building an action agenda from what emerges organically from those gatherings.  If you’re interested in joining this inquiry as a participant or potential organizational or funding partner, please send us an e-mail or join our mailing list to get involved.

Please note, WFN is not a grantmaking organization, nor is it a pooled fund or clearinghouse for vetting projects for our members.  Please do not approach us with project ideas, letters of intent, or proposals.

“We recognize how important relationships are in precipitating change, and yet there are very few structures in place that enable trusting relationships to develop… How do we measure the impact of relationships? Until we explicitly value relationship, they will continue to be under resourced. Part of the value of this kind of network is that it can provide a space for donors to reflect on their work and build trusting relationships.”
~ John Esterle, Whitman Institute