Credo’s Tracy McFerrin, along with co-author Kathleen Boyle Dalen, published two articles on how a mindset shift can enhance the impact of individual and institutional philanthropy.
In Make Giving Tuesday About More Than Money. Make it about Connection in the San Francisco Chronicle, McFerrin and Boyle encourage people to use Giving Tuesday to reach out and engage with those working on the issues they care about to foster community and build relationships to increase the impact of their charitable dollars. In a similar article on the Center for Effective Philanthropy blog, How to Move from Giving to Co-Creating: A Playbook for Program Officers, McFerrin and Doyle urge professionals in the philanthropic sector to shift the dynamic of their work with grantees by adopting a co-creating mindset that is relational, not purely transactional.
For individuals and institutions, the mindshift from giving to co-creating can be accessed through four principles:
- Curiosity over knowing: Approach conversations assuming you have something to learn.
- Interdependence over individuality: Shift your perspective to see yourself as part of a whole with a role to play that cannot be achieved without others playing their respective roles.
- Nonattachment over fixed outcomes: Trust the expertise of those doing the work and let go of your attachment to a particular solution.
- Connection over ego: Show up ready to connect, not to be congratulated.
Click on the links above to learn more.