With Brendon Johnson and Rob Ricigliano, 3 Oct 2024
Summary
This session was aimed at philanthropic funders. Using the Pando Grove was a metaphor for helping make the case for funding network-centric, collaborative, “weaving” work.
Noting traditional philanthropy tends to fund isolated projects, the hosts described how the Pando Grove is the world’s largest organism connected by a single underground root system. As nature’s example to funders, it shows how trees do not stand alone, but are part of a system (the network infrastructure and enabling conditions) that sustains long-term, systemic change.
Key Learning Points
- Reframe the Question Instead of “Making the Case”: If you are forced to pitch why networks matter to a traditional funder, you are already at a disadvantage. Instead, identify the complex problem the funder cares about most and ask questions that lead them to realize single projects cannot solve it, allowing them to convince themselves.
- Focus on “Enabling Conditions”: Systemic change requires moving away from rigid project-level frameworks. Networks excel at creating core enabling conditions—such as trust, diverse relationships, collective learning, and shared system views—which increase the mathematical probability of a system becoming healthier.
- Networks as Innovation Accelerators: The core value of a network is non-linear; it fosters relationships, ideas, and collaborations that would not exist in isolation. They accelerate searching, learning, experimentation, and provide emotional resilience to fail and persist through complex challenges.
- The Philanthropic Gap: Despite networks being highly innovative tools for social change, funding remains one of their top three challenges because philanthropy is historically stuck in predictable, linear frameworks (e.g., rigid logframes).
Action Points
- Map the Landscape and Peer Networks: Identify and connect with the existing segment of progressive funders (estimated around 90+ globally) who are already shifting their portfolios toward funding movements and relational networks.
- Utilize Visual Metaphors: Use clear graphics and systemic imagery (like the Pando root system) when communicating with stakeholders to visually contrast point-solution architectures with interconnected ecosystem funding.
- Embed Participatory Practices: Introduce funders to participatory exercises (such as collaborative systems mapping). The goal is less about the final map and more about exposing funders directly to the value of the relationships built during the process.
- Build an Ecosystem Weaver Value Proposition: Position network nodes or “weavers” not as competitors to traditional projects, but as the foundational infrastructure that allows individual projects to scale, share data, and succeed.
Knowledge Base Categories: 1) Funding & Strategy 2) Weaving Methods
