High-Engagement Philanthropy: A Bridge to a More Effective Social Sector examines the inextricable link between greater effectiveness by nonprofits and their access to capital—money to fund and grow their organizations. This report consists of a lead essay and six dialogues between high-engagement philanthropists and their investment partners (grantees) that provide a window into the ongoing give and take nature of high-engagement philanthropy, highlighting its benefits and pitfalls and depicting the push and pull inherent in and essential to authentic partnership. The dialogues illustrate the hard work the nonprofits are committed to accomplishing and the risks they were assuming by entering into these new, untested partnerships with funders. The nonprofit leaders and funders spoke of the greater effectiveness that high-engagement philanthropy stresses: building stronger management teams and boards, investing in outcome assessment, improving product and service quality and delivery, and other strategic ways to improve effectiveness and increase scale. The report, produced jointly by Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP) and Community Wealth Ventures (CWV), is the latest in a series of reports VPP has produced in an effort to advance high-engagement philanthropy and contribute to building the field.
