Philanthropy has historically concentrated significant power in the hands of funders — predominantly wealthy individuals and institutions who decide what gets funded, on what terms, and for how long. Decolonizing philanthropy challenges this power structure, asking who benefits, who decides, and whose knowledge, relationships, and ways of working are centered in grantmaking.
In Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, decolonizing philanthropy intersects with Treaty obligations, Indigenous rights, and the ongoing legacies of colonisation. But decolonizing approaches have relevance beyond Indigenous grantmaking — they challenge the entire sector to examine power.
The colonial legacy of philanthropy
Philanthropy emerged in its modern form within colonial societies — wealth generated through colonisation, slavery, and resource extraction has historically flowed through philanthropic institutions with little accountability to the communities most affected by that wealth creation.
Beyond historical origins, contemporary philanthropy replicates colonial dynamics when funders:
- Impose their own frameworks, categories, and priorities on communities
- Require communities to prove their needs in funder-defined terms
- Fund short-term projects rather than long-term community capability
- Treat grantees as service providers rather than community experts
- Extract data and learnings from communities without sharing power or benefit
Shifting power
Decolonizing philanthropy is fundamentally about power — shifting decision-making authority toward communities, building funder accountability to grantees, and recognising that communities are experts in their own needs and solutions.
Community-led design
Rather than designing grant programmes in funder offices and asking communities to apply, decolonizing approaches co-design programmes with community:
- Extended consultation and listening before designing grant criteria
- Community representatives involved in grant assessment
- Community feedback used to shape programme evolution
- Communities defining what success looks like
Trust-based grantmaking
Trust-based philanthropy reduces the burden on grantees through:
- Multi-year unrestricted funding (rather than project-specific annual grants)
- Simplified application processes (narrative instead of form-based)
- No or minimal reporting requirements
- Proactive relationship building with grantees
- Transparent, relationship-based decision making
Participatory grantmaking
Participatory grantmaking transfers decision-making to communities:
- Communities define funding priorities
- Community members review and assess applications
- Funders act as facilitators, not decision-makers
- Resources for community participation are provided (not expected for free)
Reducing extraction
Grantmakers that learn from communities should share what they learn — publishing evaluations, sharing data, contributing insights to sector knowledge without exploiting community relationships.
Te Tiriti obligations
Te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi creates obligations for funders operating in Aotearoa:
- Recognition of Māori as tangata whenua and Treaty partner
- Honouring the principles of tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) and kāwanatanga (governance)
- Ensuring Māori communities can access funding on their own terms
- Not requiring Māori organisations to conform to Western governance and accountability structures
Kaupapa Māori approaches
Many Māori-led organisations operate on kaupapa Māori principles — where tikanga Māori (Māori customs and values) are the foundation. Funders who require Western governance structures, English-language reporting, and deficit-framing outcome frameworks create barriers for Māori-led initiatives.
Kaupapa Māori grantmaking means:
- Recognising te reo Māori reporting as valid
- Understanding collective, relational governance
- Framing outcomes in Māori terms (hauora, kotahitanga, mana) not just deficit reduction
- Centering Māori decision-making authority
Community-centric approaches
New Zealand funders increasingly recognise that communities — including Pacific communities, refugee communities, and other diverse communities — hold expertise that outsider funders lack. This shifts the funder role from expert to learner.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership
First Nations communities in Australia have long called for self-determination in funding — the right to define their own priorities, design their own solutions, and control resources.
Key principles advocated by Indigenous organisations:
- Funding for Indigenous-led organisations, not just Indigenous-serving programmes
- Long-term core funding rather than short project grants
- Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance structures
- Funding for cultural activities as inherently beneficial (not only as social-service delivery)
- Accountability to communities, not just funders and governments
Structural racism in grantmaking
Beyond Indigenous-specific issues, decolonizing approaches in Australia examine how grantmaking processes systematically disadvantage communities of colour:
- Application requirements assuming professional English writing
- Governance requirements that exclude cultural and community organisations
- Funding categories that don't capture culturally specific activities
- Decision-makers who don't reflect community diversity
Examine your own power and privilege
Decolonizing philanthropy starts with funders examining their own position — how wealth was accumulated, who sits on boards and in decision-making roles, whose needs and priorities the foundation was built to serve.
Simplify requirements
Reduce reporting burdens. Eliminate unnecessary requirements. Ask: does this requirement serve the community, or just the funder?
Fund core costs
Move away from project-only funding toward core cost support. Organisations cannot build capacity and sustainability on project funding alone.
Hire for community connection
Build teams that reflect the communities being funded — people with lived experience, community relationships, and cultural understanding.
Share power in assessment
Include community members in grant assessment. Create pathways for grantees to provide feedback on funders. Participate in funder accountability mechanisms.
Move faster
Long application-to-decision timelines harm organisations most dependent on the funding. Streamlining processes respects grantee time as valuable.
Decolonizing philanthropy is not without complexity:
- Funders have fiduciary obligations and accountability to their own boards and donors
- Some accountability requirements are legitimate (public money requires public accountability)
- Not all communities want the same thing — community is not monolithic
- Participatory approaches take time and resources that small funders may not have
The goal is not to eliminate all structure, but to examine whose interests current structures serve and to redistribute power intentionally.
Tahua's grants management platform supports funders committed to participatory and trust-based approaches — with flexible application design, community reviewer portals, simplified reporting, and the tools that help grantmakers build authentic accountability to the communities they serve.