ICONIQ Impact

Since 2021, we’ve mobilized over $253 million in philanthropic capital for seventy-four grantees around the world through ICONIQ Impact’s Co-Labs—our collaborative philanthropy funds that enable donors to learn about and jointly support pressing issues like climate change, education inequity, and the youth mental health crisis.    Curious to learn more about our Co-Labs? Check out the video below 👇

Matti Navellou, head of ICONIQ Impact, recently sat down with System Catalysts to discuss the benefits of collaborative, trust-based philanthropy. It’s an all-too-common dynamic that when nonprofits secure funding, they’re often at the whims of the donor, who can dictate what strategy to pursue, what outcomes to measure, and even how to run the organization. Nonprofits must choose between receiving funding or retaining control. To upend this power imbalance, and rightfully recognize grantees as experts in their field, many donors are now turning to trust-based philanthropy. Our Co-Labs enable donors to jointly fund a portfolio of grantees with a trust-based approach. We provide grantees with multi-year, unrestricted funding, simplify the due diligence process, and minimize the reporting burden. By developing genuine relationships with our grantees and jointly evaluating impact, we’re able to assess real-world change without undermining their independence. “The best part about this model—the collaborative fund model—is that we’re able to support about twenty grantees per portfolio in a way where they’re just reporting into one entity. They don’t have to report into ten different donors asking them for different things and different measurements. We’re very proud to espouse a trust-based philanthropy approach.” Interested in learning more about our model for collaborative, trust-based giving? Check out the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/du2X3F8J #CollaborativePhilanthropy #TrustBasedPhilanthropy #Philanthropy #SystemsChange

This #WorldMentalHealthDay, we want to celebrate five grantees from our Education & Economic Mobility Co-Lab that are working to improve youth mental health across the US. These organizations are advancing local and federal policy, supporting student-led mental health advocacy, and increasing access to teletherapy for at-risk youth!   Together, they’ve helped implement better mental health services in nearly 1,400 universities and schools and provided over 9,400 young people with mental health care!   We’re continually inspired by the work you do 👏 👏 👏   inseparable, Active Minds, Inc., Hopebound, MindRight Health, TRAILS You can read more about the Education & Economic Mobility Co-Lab here: https://lnkd.in/eFVE2dFA

We’re so excited for Season 3 of the System Catalysts podcast, which features our very own head of ICONIQ Impact, Matti Navellou.   Tune in October 15 to listen to the full episode! 

To kick off #ClimateWeek, we hosted a Climate Equity Celebration in honor of the grantees of our Climate Equity Co-Lab—a $50 million collaborative philanthropy fund that supports 13 organizations working at the intersection of climate change, Indigenous land rights, gender equity, and poverty. We had the privilege of hearing from some of the leading voices in the fight for climate equity, including the Honorable Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, environmental activist Bill McKibben, and two Climate Equity Co-Lab grantee leaders, Maanda Ngoitiko, co-founder and executive director of Pastoral Women's Council, and Kaushik Kappagantulu, co-founder and CEO of Kheyti. We were also joined by members of the musical group #ThisIsOurHome, a climate justice campaign of indigenous artists, musicians, and storytellers who are advocating for a fossil fuel-free future for the Pacific. It was great to see our community come together to celebrate and support organizations on the frontlines of the climate justice movement 🌍 👏

We’re thrilled to see this article by Marie Dageville, co-founder of The Patchwork Collective (TPC), who is helping inspire fellow philanthropists to give with urgency and trust.   TPC funds locally-led, underfunded initiatives around the world through trust-based giving.   This means: 💡 Providing grantee organizations with unrestricted (and typically multi-year) funding to allow for flexibility, innovation, and long-term planning ✍ Not requiring grantee organizations to jump through hoops or fill out onerous proposals to receive funding 🎯 Keeping reporting simple by having ongoing conversations about impact rather than demanding costly and time-consuming reports   “Throughout these few years I’ve been continually blown away by the groups we’ve funded. These people who are doing the hard work to make the world better on so many fronts are incredibly inspiring…I feel it’s my duty to support them with the means I have at my disposal, because they are literally working for the good of us all.” - Marie Dageville   Read more about Marie’s philosophy and TPC’s approach to giving below 👇

We’re thrilled to have worked alongside our partners at Lever for Change to host this webinar in honor of #WorldRefugeeDay!   Since receiving a collective $24.25 million in funding three years ago, the five finalists of the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award have scaled their programs to improve the lives of millions of refugees across the world. Here are just some of the many things these visionary organizations have achieved:   Global Refuge has expanded their mental health programming to include a more holistic, trauma-informed approach so that refugees receive sustainable support beyond the initial welcome. Village Enterprise has provided technical assistance to community-based organizations so localized groups can adapt their model according to the unique needs of each community. Resourcing Refugee Leadership Initiative (RRLI) has centered refugee leadership in their organization and programs so they can better represent the true needs of the refugee community.

ICONIQ founding partner Michael Anders spoke at yesterday’s #ForbesIconoclast Summit about why philanthropy is not reaching its full potential: silos, bureaucracy, a lack of understanding on where and how to start, and more.   At ICONIQ Impact, we aim to quickly, diligently, and effectively mobilize capital towards the world's most complex challenges, focusing on areas where philanthropy has the potential to be catalytic. This can look like supporting overlooked and underfunded groups, funding a new project or approach that we believe has huge potential but needs support to get off the ground, or partnering to support hyper-local initiatives.   

Divesh Makan, founding partner of ICONIQ Capital, spoke with Bloomberg Wealth's David Rubenstein about AI, ICONIQ's community, and why #CollaborativePhilanthropy is a core part of ICONIQ's DNA. Listen to the full interview below 👇

Earlier this week, head of ICONIQ Impact, Matti Navellou, joined Samantha Fenwick on BBC News Business Matters to discuss the unique role philanthropy can play in catalyzing government funding.   In a time where governments across the world are cutting their aid budgets, philanthropy is more important than ever. But it’s neither a stopgap measure nor a replacement. Rather, philanthropic dollars can fund bold ideas that have the potential to be transformative and can serve as proof points for other funders—including governments—to follow.   Unlike governments, philanthropists are not bound by political constraints or annual budgets, and unlike the private sector, they are not beholden to shareholders or an economic bottom line. Philanthropists are in a unique position where they can be flexible, innovative, and risk tolerant with their giving, ultimately helping to prove out solutions and crowd in other funders.   Listen below 👇