HOW WE FUNDED

Chambers Fund has sunset and is closed as of December 31, 2024.

Our approach to grantmaking was based on an engaged funding philosophy where we partnered with other funders and grantees to create positive change. Our cooperative journeys inspired an innovative climate to guide us, our funding partners and our grantees to look beyond traditional contexts and develop creative solutions. Our funding philosophy centered around the following principles:

• Investing in systems change to eliminate barriers for people today and create opportunity for future generations.
• Beneficial change often requires long-term investment and, to that end, we prioritized multi-year general operating support, reflecting the foundation’s commitment to administrative efficiency and flexibility.
• Building organizational capacity by establishing close, long-term relationships with our grantees and encouraging comprehensive planning and program development.
• We took risks and thought creatively to effectively address community needs, staying open to unique and unanticipated ideas and projects that fulfilled the mission of the foundation.
• Sharing knowledge and best practices is an effective way to maximize our grantees’ potential impacts and can often spark innovative thinking, leading to the creation of new frameworks that shape and guide our work.
• Even with the sunset decision, we made sure our longtime grantees received multi-year general support exit grants, to provide as much of an offramp as possible from our funding.