Philanthropy Right Now:

What can #Partygate teach donors about trust?

^{‘Philanthropy Right Now’ is a monthly column for Beacon Collaborative by Marie-Louise Gourlay, Managing Director of Europe for The Philanthropy Workshop.}

The success of any relationship, partnership or understanding – whether personal or professional – is surely rooted in trust.

Trust demands patience to grow, yet may be breached in an instant. The word ‘trust’ comes from the Old Norse, meaning to ‘rely on, to make strong and safe’. It’s also found within the meaning of the word confidence – meaning to have ‘full trust’.

The ability to have faith in intentions – to know that a person is who they say they are and will do what they say they will – is critical to the success of any relationship.

“When you trust someone, you know what to expect.”

Mundane though it may sound, psychologists have long posited that being consistent – i.e. exhibiting a dependable and steady set of behaviours and responses – is one of the surest ways of building trust. It is considered among the best qualities a colleague, friend or leader can imbue.

When you trust someone, you know what to expect, and in turn what is expected of you. You’re rarely surprised or taken aback.

Over recent weeks, the allegations of the UK government behaving in a manner opposed to the Covid guidelines they laid out – dubbed #Partygate – have undermined trust in the country’s leadership. If you’re mandating one set of requirements, but conforming to an entirely different set, how can others be expected to believe the guidelines are necessary?

The loss of influence, and thus for the possibility of collaborative action, carries with it a high price for us all. The sense of togetherness to face a pandemic comes a cropper, almost red rover style*.

“The loss of influence, and thus for the possibility of collaborative action, carries with it a high price for us all.”

In an era that requires new answers, we are urgently looking for what’s working and who we can trust to be alongside us in that process.

The old adage ‘practice what you preach’ will never fail to be relevant, whether one is a government leader, or a philanthropist or social investor. Indeed, a key part of the work of charitable funders is not only our individual practice, but also the role of multiplying our impact.

That we can amplify positive social change through signalling what works – and influencing behaviour change in others – is invaluable. But, of course, we can only do this if others trust and believe in us.

In philanthropy, advocating for the practices we are carrying out means not only that people are likely to trust you, but that they can leapfrog to the ‘action’ part of their own work. Trust means you don’t need to re-do the due diligence of others; it enables you to accelerate to action, and in turn, accelerate to impact.

“Trust means you don’t need to re-do the due diligence of others.”

In making decisions on where we choose to fund, and how we choose to give our time and expertise, our choices can often be hastened or slowed according to our level of trust. Most people choose to work only with those they already trust or those who use tried and tested models.

But that suffocates innovation and stifles opportunity. Paraphrasing others, how do we end with trust, rather than always needing to start with it?

Ending with trust opens up our possibilities. It widens our circles. It means we don’t sit so neatly within our echo chambers, perpetually calling on those most like ourselves. Those who will reinforce what we think we know to be true.

“How do we end with trust, rather than always needing to start with it?”

Trust has to be built and sustained for long-term impact, but it doesn’t have to come from those we automatically assume are the most trustworthy. Trust doesn’t mean being involved in every little detail; it means trusting non-profit leaders and community organisers to get on with carrying out the work they know best.

Each of us has paid a heavy price over the pandemic, and trust has been called into question many times. We know we want to give people the space to pilot and to test concepts, knowing things may end in failure and that we can move forward with those learnings.

But if any failure is linked to a breach of trust, a far higher price is paid, and the damage may be irreparable. There is no better time than now to consider how we, as funders, can end with trust.

The question is: how do we change our practices to accommodate this?

^{*Red Rover is a game widely played in the US where two teams line up, and each player is called upon to break the chain of the other team – in this case, it would be the government vs Covid-19 – and if the player fails to break the chain, they join the opposing team.}

^{Marie-Louise Gourlay is the Managing Director of Europe for The Philanthropy Workshop. Find out more about The Philanthropy Workshop’s activity here.}