Learning and evaluation in the philanthropy space can be a hotly contested issue. Oftentimes, the ‘impact’ funders request to see from charity partners is tied to outputs which focus on short-term service delivery rather than non-linear, longer-term change. Many funders also tend to prioritise quantitative data over stories and experiences, gloss over the value of ‘failures’ and challenges for learning, and neglect the importance of the monitoring and evaluation process itself for upholding values of …

The recently released report which is the second volume of its study revealed a philanthropic sector that is strongly committed to resourcing artistic and cultural organisations to strengthen their resilience; has a cross-cutting and intersectional tendency in its work; and is clearly open to collaborative and participatory approaches. With multiple crises having unfolded over the past few years, the arts and culture sector has been one of the most heavily affected financially, and its structural …

On 22 May 2023, Philea published the sixth edition of its Environmental Funding by European Foundations report, the most comprehensive of its kind, which covers topics ranging from thematic focus of environmental grantmaking, to geographical distribution, to approaches taken by environmental funders. The report, which features detailed analysis of the environmental grants of 126 European public-benefit foundations, found that between these foundations, 8,518 environmental grants were made in 2021 with a combined value of €1.6 …

Nearly 10 years have passed since my first European Foundation Centre conference in Sarajevo. I remember entering a very homogenous space where women, the LGBTQ+ community, young and racialised people, were an absolute minority. At last week’s Philea’s conference in Šibenik, Croatia, I found myself in a slightly different space, a bit more diverse, where important discussions on issues around intersectionality, women’s rights or the need to incorporate changes in traditional grantmaking are starting to …