Unrestricted Funding and Trust-Based Philanthropy (for Dutch Foundations)

Dutch foundations are increasingly moving past the question of whether unrestricted funding and trust-based philanthropy are realistic, and turning instead to how these approaches can be put into practice. This shift raises important questions about accountability, control and partnership between funders and the organisations they support.

These questions will be the focus of an upcoming session hosted by FIN, Branchevereniging van fondsen en foundations, at Wilde Ganzen.

The afternoon opens with a talk by Pamala Wiepking of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, who will introduce the principles behind unrestricted funding and trust-based giving. Following her talk, foundations and funders will take part in a series of workshops led by practitioners with direct experience of these funding models in practice. Yehalem Abebe of Partners in Education Ethiopia, Joan Njeri of Rafikistry TLC in Kenya, and Sandra Kloezen of Fred Foundation will each share practical insights from their own work, offering funders a grounded view of what trust-based partnerships can look like in different contexts.

Together, participants will explore where the opportunities and risks of unrestricted funding lie, what is working well, where the bottlenecks remain, and whether this is an approach suited to every situation or one that depends on context.

The session draws on The Impact of Unrestricted Funding, a handbook developed jointly by Pamala Wiepking and HVFC. All FIN members will receive a copy as part of the session.