The Philanthropy Workshop & Magnify Community

Partnership Update 

In June 2021, The Philanthropy Workshop (TPW) and the Magnify Community (Magnify) announced a partnership that will welcome the Magnify Pledgers into the TPW Community, and inaugurate the TPW Silicon Valley Action Lab in September 2021. Magnify and TPW have deep cultural and values alignment as our communities are rooted in curiosity, purpose, and a willingness to learn and share challenges among peers. This partnership is an exciting opportunity to bring the best of TPW and Magnify together in one place to ultimately drive greater impact at all levels.

Background & The Path Forward

Magnify launched in 2018 as a time-limited philanthropic innovation lab to encourage more local giving from high-capacity givers in Silicon Valley, by providing the inspiration, insight, and tools to propel their local philanthropy. Magnify was founded on the premise that the work it seeded would grow and endure in other institutions after the conclusion of the initiative. TPW is a natural home for the “giving where you live” movement established by the Magnify Pledger Community to continue to grow and to evolve moving forward. 

Building on TPW’s 20+ year history in Silicon Valley and with more than a third of members residing in the Bay Area, TPW is deeply committed to growing and expanding the impact of its members in the region and beyond. 

Over the last year with COVID-19 and the increasing wealth divide, TPW has also seen a significant increase and interest from members to convene locally, amplify community models that work, and identify opportunities for co-investment. By integrating Magnify into TPW and creating a new Silicon Valley Action Lab focused on local giving, we aim to strengthen our mission to mobilize philanthropists and social investors and bring new groups together to unlock resources and test new types of collaboration that ultimately benefit local communities.

Who is the Magnify Community (“Magnify”)?

Magnify Community launched in 2018 as a time-limited philanthropic innovation lab to encourage more local giving from high-capacity givers in Silicon Valley, by providing the inspiration, insight, and tools to propel their local philanthropy. Magnify was founded on the premise that the work it seeded would grow and endure in other institutions after the conclusion of the initiative. As a three year initiative, Magnify will sunset in September 2021.

Why is TPW partnering with Magnify?

TPW continually looks for strategic partners to grow and deepen our presence in our existing geographic hubs (London, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area) to bring new ideas, experience, and talents into our global community. With similar community values and a deep focus on impact, both TPW and Magnify are very aligned with a focus on activating more philanthropy and doing so with a strategic lens, an emphasis on shared learning, community building and relationship building, and a sense of purpose and joy.

This partnership between TPW and Magnify also demonstrates the power of strategic collaboration in the sector. It creates a pathway for the local giving movement to continue to attract and influence others in Silicon Valley and beyond as we collectively work to strengthen community systems and nimbly respond to the challenging, urgent social issues facing our people and planet.

Who are the Magnify Pledgers?

Magnify Pledgers are a community of high-capacity individuals and family foundations committed to giving locally to nonprofits in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

To try to create a new Silicon Valley norm that “if you live here and are successful here, you give here,” Magnify Community developed and piloted the Magnify Community Pledge to encourage leaders in the local giving movement to publicly commit to give more locally. Magnify Pledgers each made a 3-year commitment to either measurably increase or proudly sustain their current local giving at a significant dollar amount or percentage of their overall giving. What began as a call to action, a prompt to inspire others, and an accountability mechanism that would help set a new norm, quickly became a learning and giving community. 

The 40 Magnify Community Pledgers have collectively pledged to increase their giving by $45M over three years. In 2020 alone, Pledgers donated more than $116M to Silicon Valley charities. 

How is TPW integrating the Magnify Pledgers into the TPW Community?

TPW and Magnify have built a thoughtful plan to ensure that the Magnify Pledgers can fully integrate into the TPW Community through membership and in the creation of a new Silicon Valley Action Lab (see question five below). Magnify Pledgers will be onboarded as new TPW members with a full overview of the TPW community including signing up for core programs in the first year and exploring other ways to engage through programs and peer groups. They will also be asked to sign TPW’s Member Agreement to acknowledge and uphold our values and code of conduct that underpin our culture of trust and challenge within the TPW Community. 

The process is designed to bring the best of the TPW and Magnify Communities together by growing the group of champions for local giving and highlighting best practices in philanthropy to drive greater impact where it’s needed most.

What is the TPW Silicon Valley Action Lab? Will existing TPW members be able to join this Action Lab?

In September 2021, TPW will launch the TPW Silicon Valley Action Lab, a new peer group that will regularly convene Pledgers and Bay Area-based TPW members to share ideas and best practices, and learn together from local nonprofit and philanthropic leaders. This new Action Lab will incorporate the model of community briefings and resources that Magnify Pledgers have come to trust and depend on into TPW’s structure for Action Labs, which has proven to be highly effective in fostering greater impact, learning, and connection. TPW, with consultation from Magnify, will hire an expert facilitator with local Silicon Valley and Bay Area knowledge and expertise to lead the group, with strong member leadership and input from TPW. The group will also maintain a listserv for ongoing communication, sharing ideas and investable opportunities, asking questions, etc.

Do the Magnify Pledgers only give locally in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area?

While the focus of Magnify has been to increase local giving in Silicon Valley, largely in response to the Giving Code report, the Pledgers — like TPW members — give to and invest in a wide range of issues and geographies that go well beyond the Bay Area. We know that some of the best opportunities for peer learning come from unlikely connections, and we see huge potential for the kind of exchange of ideas, approaches, and strategies that will come from bringing our communities together. 

With this growth in the San Francisco Bay Area, what is TPW’s commitment to its other global hubs in London and New York?

TPW is absolutely committed to growing the global Community with a focus on our existing global hubs in London and New York and places in between. We view this strategic partnership with Magnify as a model to build on as other potential partner organizations seek to leverage TPW’s platform and expertise in building community, fostering connections, and catalyzing action.

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