We Are Stronger Together

The mission of Philanos is to support and strengthen women’s collective giving by offering our Philanos Affiliates unique educational and collaborative resources. Each of you as a Philanos Affiliate is committed to using these resources to make impactful grants to serve the most vulnerable within their local communities.

In spite of recent events, the Philanos Mission has not changed - nor will we waver from our mission. And we know that each of you remain deeply committed to the communities you serve.

What has changed in the past four weeks is the confusion, chaos and concern within the nonprofit sector, resulting from executive orders issued by the current administration. Philanos is horrified by the display of both cruelty and ignorance and the possibility of the long term negative impact for those we support.

We know how directly the past four weeks have affected all of you. 

You are closest to those doing the work on the ground and understand both the significant impact of recent events, as well as the likelihood of additional policy changes that will create unprecedented upheaval for those you serve. 

More than ever, we encourage you to support the needs you see in your communities and to support each other. 

Philanos is following the current situation closely and will provide ongoing updates and resource suggestions as they evolve. None of us has the answers we want today - or the answers we would like to hear. However, by sharing and collaborating amongst ourselves, we can stand in solidarity to address the resulting inequities.

On Tuesday, Philanos joined other members of the Philanthropy Together Braintrust in issuing a collective statement and offering some suggestions for positive action. Details can be found here. 

Things you can do as a Philanos Affiliate:

• Use the member portal on the Philanos website. We will be updating and adding resources as they become available. 

• Reach out to other Philanos Affiliates for ideas. 

• Post a statement for your own organization. 

• Check in with your grant recipients. 

• Review your grantmaking process and consider unrestricted amounts and perhaps a range of grant sizes for broader community support.

Collective giving and our philanthropic impact are some of the most powerful tools we have. We are absolutely stronger together.

Philanos Co-Chairs
On behalf of the Philanos Board of Directors