How do marginalized communities build systemic power that is enduring rather than merely episodic? For many grassroots organizers, the answer is deeply rooted in culture.
In 2025, the Center for Evaluation Innovation (CEI)—in partnership with Intelligent Mischief and Root. Rise. Pollinate!—evaluated the Culture & Community Power Fund (C&CPF) to understand how culture drives structural transformation.
“The evaluation highlights C&CPF’s role as a laboratory for philanthropic innovation. By shifting from transactional, one-time grants to a high-touch, high-trust model of unrestricted awards, C&CPF places decision-making power directly into the hands of communities,” say CEI’s researchers in the report.
Explore the evaluation report summary or the full resource below to learn more about how philanthropy can shift its norms, embrace trust-based funding, and support a new paradigm for social change with culture at its core. Read C&CPF’s two-page action resource for Funders here.
