What We Do

 
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Our Approach

We'll accompany you. 
We appreciate that managing your philanthropy can be overwhelming and isolating, and that it may require more time and thought than you're able to invest. We orient our services to your comfort level and move forward with you, step by step. From the start, you will have a direct relationship with one of the firm’s Partners who will take earning your trust seriously, marked by accessibility, deep inquiry and responsible leadership. In the process, you'll realize your personal potential to affect change.

We'll show you what’s possible with your resources. 
Our value as a partner to you is not in shepherding transactions for you, but in expanding your understanding of what is possible with philanthropy. We'll design a philanthropic experience that fits your values, risk tolerance and family dynamics. We'll find opportunities for you to partner with leaders and organizations who are addressing the needs of populations you care about and solving for issues important to you.

We’ll help you increase the effectiveness of your charitable dollars.
Private philanthropy only provides a drop in the bucket of what is needed to achieve lasting positive social and environmental justice, so we’ve formed an approach which we call “Trim Tab Philanthropy.” Like a huge ocean liner, entrenched social problems respond slowly and require a lot of energy to change course. However, charitable dollars critically deployed at opportune moments on bold new ideas can act like the trim tab* on the rudder of an ocean liner, making it possible to move in a new direction with very little effort. “The right shift in the right place at the right time.”

*See FAQs – What do we mean by “Trim Tab Philanthropy?”

We'll guide your giving in stages, in highly-customized engagements.
We recommend an integrated experience of giving, right-sized to your appetite and to the capacity constraints of the organizations you’re supporting. Perhaps your portfolio will include a mix of early stage grant support for a new social enterprise, direct delivery of services to an established one, or policy and advocacy activities in an issue area you care about. You’ll get a refined understanding of what’s involved to create social change, and we’ll fine tune your approach as we learn together.

We bridge the powers of philanthropists with changemakers to create systemic impact. We’re cross-trained on all sides of philanthropy -- as family philanthropic advisors, managers of non-profits, funding collaborators, board members and managers of our own philanthropy. This allows us a wider and wiser perspective on how long-term, systemic change comes about. We steward your philanthropy with intentionality and a balanced respect for the personal power and integrity of all involved.

Guiding Principles

These tenets guide the way we work:

  • Philanthropy, at its best, is society's risk capital.

  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion make our world a better place.

  • Paying attention to the well-being of women and girls has an outsized impact on our communities and our environment.

  • Working in solidarity with partners is the only way real social change happens.

  • Identifying and investing in human talent results in innovative solutions and greater social justice.

  • Our work is a calling and an honor.

 

“Dietel & Partners provided customized service to help us determine how and where to spend philanthropic dollars in responsible and meaningful ways. The Partners strategically leveraged their networks to identify best-in-class grantees, and we had total confidence that our resources were being wisely deployed. Because of the team's relationship-building abilities, we witnessed unique partnerships form and real change occur in the nonprofit communities that we funded.”

 

Anonymous Client