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Transforming Philanthropy

GEO is a community of funders committed to transforming philanthropic culture and practice. With racial equity as a core commitment, we envision courageous grantmakers working in service of nonprofits and communities to create a just, connected and inclusive society where all can thrive.

Pardon Our Dust!

Pardon our dust while our website gets a fresh new look to better serve you. We’ll be integrating additional changes across the site over the next few weeks, and we thank you for your patience with any disruption that this shift may cause.

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What We Offer

Events and Connections

GEO events and peer learning programs offer opportunities to connect with values-aligned grantmakers to build connections, learn and explore common challenges and solutions.

All events

Resources

GEO produces a wide range of resources and tools to support grantmakers in their work to transform philanthropic culture and practices.

Resource library

Perspectives Blog

Our Perspectives blog keeps members up-to-date on the latest news and stories about how philanthropy is supporting thriving nonprofits and communities.

Perspectives

Join the GEO Community

The GEO community supports members, grantmaking organizations, infrastructure groups and academic programs in finding connections, resources and inspiration as we work to transform philanthropy and center racial equity in your organizations and beyond. Join us!

What We Care About

Capacity Building

Philanthropy’s greatest contribution to achieving racial equity and an inclusive society is to invest in nonprofit and community leadership and capacity, driving equity-centered change.

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Change Leadership

The first step in transforming philanthropy is building and fostering supportive and inclusive organizational environments, which empowers  people to lead change both individually and collectively.

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Collaboration

Transforming philanthropy requires an unrelenting focus on community-centered collaboration. We build relationships, learn in partnership and resist individualism.

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Community-Driven Philanthropy

We strive to build positive and impactful relationships among philanthropy and nonprofits and communities. Community-driven philanthropy is about building trust, centering community voices and experiences, and shifting power to those that historically have been ignored and othered.

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Culture

Grantmakers who are effectively working in service of nonprofits and communities create and sustain organizational cultures founded on several core elements, including a commitment to racial equity.

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Flexible, Reliable Funding

Flexible, reliable funding—such as general operating support, multiyear grants, and funds that cover indirect costs—is a necessary expression of trust in nonprofits and communities to shape the futures they seek.

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Learning & Evaluation

By focusing on learning for improvement, grantmakers can use evaluation and insights to better understand current impact and identify opportunities for improvement.

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Systems Change

Systems change grantmaking addresses the complexity of interconnected issues affecting communities. While systems change often focuses on structures, policies and processes, it can also be shifting resources, values, power, mindsets and infrastructure. 

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Upcoming Events

New Member Orientation

Join our next member orientation to learn about community benefits and discover…

  • Member Orientation

2025 Member Orientation

Join our next member orientation to learn about community benefits and discover…

  • Member Orientation

2025 Member Orientation

Join our next member orientation to learn about community benefits and discover…

  • Member Orientation

2025 Learning Conference

Save the Date for GEO’s 2025 Learning Conference, hosted in partnership with…

  • Conferences

2025 Member Orientation

Join our next member orientation to learn about community benefits and discover…

  • Member Orientation

2025 Member Orientation

Join our next member orientation to learn about community benefits and discover…

  • Member Orientation

"CLIPF takes a balanced approach with the right kind of rigor. They know how to raise and cool the heat to keep us in that productive zone of work and engagement, while also recognizing our humanity and need for space to just breathe and be in community."

Neeraj Mehta, Vice President of Programs, McKnight Foundation

Featured Resources

Annual Report 2021

In this report, we are excited to share examples that illustrate some…

  • Annual Report

Annual Report 2018-2020

Across the philanthropic sector, the last several years have been a clear…

  • Annual Report

Year in Review 2017

The power of our community is undeniable when we look at the…

  • Annual Report

Making Meaningful Change

GEO frequently hears that grantmakers, no matter their role, want to make…

  • Publication

Year in Review 2016

In 2016, we prioritized finding new ways to build connections with each…

  • Case Study

Is Grantmaking Getting Smarter?

Grantmakers recognize the value of supporting effective, well-led organizations - strong organizations…

  • Publication

Learn and Let Learn

This publication explores how learning communities can be powerful tools in creating…

  • Publication

On The Money

This publication highlights the financial challenges nonprofits face and the ways in…

  • Guide

Excerpt: Knowledge Gaps

An excerpt from GEO’s upcoming publication, On the Money: The Key Financial…

  • Publication

Annual Report 2008

GEO's 2008 Annual Report covers ten years of smarter grantmaking, stronger nonprofits…

  • Annual Report

Learning for Results

This publication explores what it means to be a "learning organization;" how…

  • Publication

GEO's Racial Equity Commitment

GEO’s strategic direction mobilizes our community of members around an explicit commitment to racial equity. Our goal is to support members in operationalizing racial equity in their grantmaking to more effectively serve nonprofits and communities.

Photo of two people hugging each other.

Latest News & Stories

Two Steps Forward

Suprotik Stotz-Ghosh reflects on how grantmakers can generate meaningful results in response…

  • Perspectives Piece

My Journey to GEO

Throughout my career, I have committed myself to service. First, as a…

  • Perspectives Piece

Perspective Matters

After three years of working to expand the bench of evaluators, the…

  • Perspectives Piece

Get on the Balcony

In September 2018, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations released "Get on the Balcony:…

  • Perspectives Piece

Cross-post: The Search

After the 2017 Unity Summit, AAPIP (Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy) invited…

  • Perspectives Piece

What we know for sure

Often unprecedented circumstances seem to necessitate bigger or radically different strategies. But…

  • Perspectives Piece

Focus and Hope

Now is the opportunity for foundations to gain a clarity that has…

  • Perspectives Piece

Embracing Discomfort

We need to face the structural and systemic causes of racial disparity…

  • Perspectives Piece

The CIA Made Me Do It

I recently ran across a historical document that surprisingly holds many parallels…

  • Perspectives Piece

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