{"id":23011,"date":"2024-11-01T22:07:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T05:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:10053\/what-is-a-philanthropy-serving-organization\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T17:09:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T00:09:45","slug":"what-is-a-philanthropy-serving-organization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-is-a-philanthropy-serving-organization","title":{"rendered":"What is a Philanthropy-Serving Organization?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:2%\" class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-container explainer-heading gb-block-container\"><div class=\"gb-container-inside\"><div class=\"gb-container-content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-columns gb-layout-columns-3 gb-3-col-equal\"><div class=\"gb-layout-column-wrap gb-block-layout-column-gap-2 gb-is-responsive-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-column gb-block-layout-column gb-is-vertically-aligned-top\"><div class=\"gb-block-layout-column-inner\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/learning-center-icon-new.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23311\" style=\"width:150px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/learning-center-icon-new.png 500w, https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/learning-center-icon-new-300x240.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-column gb-block-layout-column gb-is-vertically-aligned-top\"><div class=\"gb-block-layout-column-inner\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/explainer-logo-for-detail-page.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23078\" style=\"width:300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/explainer-logo-for-detail-page.png 750w, https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/explainer-logo-for-detail-page-300x152.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-column gb-block-layout-column gb-is-vertically-aligned-top\"><div class=\"gb-block-layout-column-inner\" style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-container gb-block-container\"><div class=\"gb-container-inside\"><div class=\"gb-container-content\">\n<p>Like any field, philanthropy learns and grows, and is shaped and supported, through networking, professional development, education, and infrastructure. Philanthropy-serving organizations (PSOs) are the non-grantmaking entities that bring funders together to network, learn best practices or new practices, and gain information that can inform and improve their giving. Philanthropy-serving organizations are part of the infrastructure of philanthropy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>An organization that aims to increase the effectiveness, impact or scale of philanthropy by bringing funders together and\/or educating and informing grantmakers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Part of the infrastructure of philanthropy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>PSOs include philanthropic intermediaries, funder affinity groups, regional associations of grantmakers and other types of organizations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are examples of philanthropy-serving organizations?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Philanthropy-serving organizations aim to increase the effectiveness, impact or scale of philanthropy by facilitating networking among funders, providing funders with helpful information, educating grantmakers (as well as nonprofits and the public) on particular issues or philanthropic practices, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-is-a-funder-affinity-group\">Funder affinity groups<\/a> or identiy-based networks are PSOs that come together around a specific community, for example, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Native Americans in Philanthropy and the Women Donors Network.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-are-regional-associations-of-grantmakers\">Regional associations of grantmakers<\/a> are examples of PSOs that are geographically based, as in regional associations of grantmakers, which can help to mobilize resources to respond to an urgent need like disaster relief in a specific geographic area. Regional associations can also facilitate holistic thinking about funding across issues in a given city or state.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National philanthropy organizations<\/strong> or information clearinghouses, such as Candid, which are PSOs that provide a range of services that support philanthropic infrastructure across the U.S. or even around the world. These provide data on philanthropy as a whole, detailed information on funders and nonprofits across sectors, and resources like a searchable database of foundations and grants.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-is-a-philanthropic-intermediary\">philanthropic intermediaries<\/a> and information clearinghouses are all types of PSOs.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Topical funder networks refer to PSOs that bring together and educate funders who share a common interest. Some are issue-based, like the Science Philanthropy Alliance or the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity, and provide deep knowledge of the issue that can advance or shift philanthropic conversations and priorities.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There are also PSOs that focus on specific philanthropic approaches or practices. For instance, several PSOs offer information and resources related to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-is-impact-investing\">impact investing<\/a>. A PSO like Exponent Philanthropy provides support and resources to foundations with very small or no staff.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And then there are umbrella organizations that bring PSOs themselves together across issues and communities, like the national United Philanthropy Forum.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You might also want to check out:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-is-a-funder-affinity-group\">What is a Funder Affinity Group?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-are-regional-associations-of-grantmakers\">What are regional associations of grantmakers?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-is-a-philanthropic-intermediary\">What is a philanthropic intermediary?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">Philanthropy-serving organizations aim to increase the effectiveness, impact or scale of philanthropy by facilitating networking among funders, providing funders with helpful information, educating grantmakers (as well as nonprofits and the public) on particular issues or philanthropic practices, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":470,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":true,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"content-sidebar","footnotes":""},"categories":[26779],"tags":[26780],"ppma_author":[32648],"class_list":{"0":"post-23011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-explainers","7":"tag-ip-explainer","8":"author-ipstaff","9":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"IP Staff","author_link":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/author\/ipstaff"},"authors":[{"term_id":32648,"user_id":470,"is_guest":0,"slug":"ipstaff","display_name":"IP Staff","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"IP Staff","writer-profile":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","linkedin":"","instagram":"","twitter":"","facebook":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23011"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212971,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23011\/revisions\/212971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23011"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=23011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}