Here's how you can drive creative solutions as a successful philanthropic professional.

Philanthropy is deeply personal. In my personal experience, the most profound relationships between foundations and associations have empathy as a starting point; "Walk a mile in my shoes". As a funder, you need to understand where your experiences, opportunities, and yes, privileges may tend towards bias and misunderstanding. Evaluating a potential fundee isn’t simply about reading their proposal, looking at their budgets and financial statements. Visit those potential charities, sit with team members and beneficiaries to see how they work, to experience what their beneficiaries deal with on a daily basis. As much as active listening is key, so is "active seeing".

Collaborating with those who share in your mission and passion in and outside of your organization is bound to bring more creativity and likelihood of success in outcomes. Some action steps I have seen work well: 1. Put up an anonymous idea box 2. Host monthly brainstorming sessions - all team members welcome 3. Monthly/Quarterly "Best New Idea" Award 4. Access to internal and external workshops/seminars/etc. 5. Create process/expectation to leave any event with a "buddy" to connect with for a certain amount of time (monthly/regularly) to continue the creative/solution focused discussion. The more we engage our brain in this mode - the more the ideas come! :)

I am a big proponent of collaboration - two heads are better than one. While yes "you can go faster alone", you can absolutely "go further together". Creative solutions and innovation take time to develop, by collaborating with other foundations and/or associations the learning curve as to what solutions work or didn't work is multiplied. As a foundation, you can organise round tables or retreats where you provide the time and opportunity for your fundees to share, learn and grow. As a foundation, you can also share your due diligence work with other foundations, as well as successes and failures. We all stand to win when we share and collaborate.

I completely agree with the importance of cultivating a creative mindset within philanthropic work. Encouraging your team to think differently and challenge the status quo is essential. Creating an environment where brainstorming and experimentation are welcomed can lead to the most effective solutions, often emerging from the most unconventional ideas. Creativity isn't just about generating new ideas but also reimagining existing ones to better serve your mission. Simple steps, like planning quarterly creative workshops, can foster a more innovative outlook on how to achieve your goals.

Utilize tools such as creative brainstorming cards and leverage AI to design workshops tailored to your needs. Remember, creativity often comes from unlikely places. Expanding beyond your usual environments and seeking insights from other industries can provide valuable perspectives and innovative approaches.

As an empathy driven philanthropy professional I rely on gut reactions, instincts, and the sense I get from exchanges with other stakeholders. That doesn't however mean you can set aside facts. Empathy driven philanthropy and data-driven philanthropy don't have to be mutually exclusive - in fact they should always be used in tandem. Understanding the start and desired end points of a program, project or situation, for all stakeholders, and being able to quantitatively and qualitatively measure the results is key. It's important to identify those key measurement factors from the start, so that you know where you're going, but also so that you can shift to a different method if you see half-way that your proposed solution isn't working.