The brightest giving is with trust.

The name “Blue Sky” has several inspirations. In Buddhist meditative tradition, the mind is likened to the blue sky—always there even when obscured by clouds. While it can be hard to remember in the middle of a storm, a calm and clear mind is always part of us, even if obscured by thoughts, emotions, or anxiety. Blue sky also represents optimism, and “blue sky thinking” refers to open-minded creative brainstorming without limits.

What is Blue Sky Giving?

We are aligned with the concept of trust-based philanthropy, but we a seek different language for our approach, as it is about more than the values implied. We seek to maximize effectiveness and to fund to win.

Experience has shown us that the structures and restrictions that funders often place on their grants can, unintentionally, hinder success. We’ve also heard from many frontline activists that short-term project funding often prevents them from implementing the most effective and successful strategies.

Accordingly, we believe that part of funding to win means providing multiyear unrestricted grants to transformative actors. We seek to add further value through opening doors; making connections; and facilitating accompaniment, peer learning, and mentoring. We invite honest discussions about successes and failures and seek to be accountable to our grantees just as we ask them to be accountable to us.