The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project (TBP) is an education and advocacy organization that encourages and supports the trust-based philanthropy approach developed by the now-defunct Whitman Institute that encourages grantmakers to put more trust in the nonprofit organizations they fund. ¹ TBP is fiscally sponsored by Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, a left-of-center fiscal sponsorship and support organization. ²

Background

The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project is a “funder-to-funder advocacy initiative” that works to “address the power imbalance between foundations and the groups they support” by putting more responsibility on grantmakers to collaborate with the nonprofits they fund. The group promotes grantmakers limiting their compliance and control requirements. TBP recommends that funders give multi-year, unrestricted funding; simplify and streamline required paperwork; and provide support “beyond the check.” ³  Academic newsletter The Conversation describes this approach as “giving money without lots of obligations.” ^{4 5}

The TBP was founded in 2020 by the co-executive directors of left-of-center grantmaking foundation Whitman Institute, John Esterle and Pia Infante. It based its approach on the Whitman Institute’s trust-based philanthropy method. The Whitman Institute closed in 2022 once it spent its endowment. ^{1 6}

Work Areas

The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project provides tools, training, and networking opportunities to help grantmakers transition to the trust-based philanthropy approach. ⁷

In 2025, TBP partnered with “racial equity”-focused Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) and the National Center for Family Philanthropy, a network of philanthropic families, to create “Meet the Moment: A Call to Action for Philanthropy in 2025.” It proposes that funders their commitments to nonprofits “that promote progressive policies” due to decreases in federal funding by the second Trump Administration. ^{8 4} Over 137 grantmakers signed Meet the Moment including the Ansara Family Fund, the Claneil Foundation, the Frost Family Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Krupp Family Foundation, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, the Solidaire Network, and the Walter and Elise Haas Fund. ⁹ Several organizations endorsed the Meet the Moment campaign, including Candid, Funders for Justice, the Human Rights Funders Network, and the United Philanthropy Forum. ¹⁰

Fiscal Sponsor

The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project does not receive direct contributions or award grants, as it is fiscally sponsored by Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), ² a left-of-center fiscal sponsor and support organization for start-up nonprofit groups that focus on “progressive change in areas of social and environmental justice.” ^{11 12} Its 2023 SEE’s tax returns claim the group received $85 million in contributions and grants. ¹³

SEE donors include labor union Workers United, left-of-center advocacy group People for the American Way, environmentalist groups Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment, Earthjustice, Friends of the Earth, the Sierra Club Foundation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the ClimateWorks Foundation, and other left-of-center organizations such as Tides Advocacy and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. ¹⁴ In 2023, SEE received over $1.5 million in government grants. ¹⁵

In 2023, SEE funded over 200 “collaboration grants” to groups promoting left-of-center issues including Native Movement, ReThink Energy Florida, the Alliance for Global Justice, the Center for Earth Energy and Democracy, Coming Clean, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the Miami Workers Center, the Outlaw Project, the Center For Economic Research and Social Change, GreenRoots, the Just Transition Alliance, the Border Network for Human Rights, the Windward Fund, Until We Are All Free, and the Center for Popular Democracy. ¹⁶

Leadership

Pia Infante is co-executive director of the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. She earned a master’s in education and has held several positions related to education. In 2010, Infante was a director at the Rockwood Leadership Institute, then joined the Whitman Institute in 2014 as co-executive director, spending down the endowment and closing the foundation in 2022. She began with the Trust-Based Philosophy Project as a steering committee member in 2020 and became co-executive director in January 2025. Infante is a board member of the Stupski Foundation, MediaJustice, and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics. ^{17 18}

Shaady Salehi is co-executive director of the TBP. Salehi earned a master’s in communication from Columbia University and joined Active Voice Lab and Active Voice. She had leadership roles in several communications-related organizations, then joined the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project as part of its initial founding team. Salehi is a 2014 Aspen Institute fellow, a board member of Color Congress, and has been a member of advisory committees for the National Council on Family Philanthropy and the Human Rights Funders Network. ^{19 20 21}

TBP executive committee members include Philip Li, president and CEO of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation; Carrie Avery, former president of the Durfee Foundation; Brenda Solorzano, president and CEO of the California Endowment; and Sarah Walczyk, executive director of the Satterberg Foundation. ²²

1. “Our History.” Trust-Based Philanthropy Project.” Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/what-we-do
2. “About Us.” Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/what-we-do
3. Trust-Based Philanthropy Project homepage. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/
4. Alex Daniels. “70-Plus Foundations ‘Meet the Moment’ and Pledge to Increase Their Grants.” The Chronicle of Philanthropy. April 10, 2025. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/70-plus-foundations-meet-the-moment-and-pledge-to-increase-their-grants?sra=true
5. Gemma Ware. “Some funders are embracing ‘trust-based philanthropy’ by giving money without lots of obligations.” The Conversation. May 4, 2022. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://theconversation.com/some-funders-are-embracing-trust-based-philanthropy-by-giving-money-without-lots-of-obligations-177030
6. “Our Spend-Out.” The Whitman Institute. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://thewhitmaninstitute.org/our-spend-out/
7. “Tools & Resources.” Trust-Based Philanthropy. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/tools
8. ^[1] “Meet the Moment: A Call to Action for Philanthropy in 2025 (and Beyond).” Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/meet-the-moment
9.  “Funder Signatories.” Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/meet-the-moment
10. “Endorsements.” Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/meet-the-moment
11. “About SEE.” Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://saveourplanet.org/about-see/
12. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs Inc. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part III). 2023.
13. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs Inc. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part I). 2023.
14. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer search. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?form%5B%5D=IRS990ScheduleI&page=11&q=95-4116679&sort=best&submit=Apply&year%5B%5D=2022&year%5B%5D=2023
15. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs Inc. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part VIII). 2023
16. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs Inc. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Schedule I.) 2023.
17. ^[1] “Pia Infante.” Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/team-v2/pia-infante
18. LinkedIn – Pia Infante. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/pia-infante-58347539/
19. ^[1] “Meet the Moment: A Call to Action for Funders – with Shaady Salehi, Trust-Based Philanthropy Project.” Fund the People.” April 2, 2025. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://fundthepeople.org/meet-the-moment/
20. “Shaady Salehi.” Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/team-v2/shaady-salehi
21. LinkedIn – Shaady Salehi. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaadysalehi/
22. Executive Committee.” Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/team