How can we do better? Blog series #1

By Anders Holm, CEO at Hempel Foundation.

Today, with global development assistance in decline and a world that feels increasingly unpredictable, these questions are more urgent than ever. Philanthropy may still account for a relatively small share of global funding for a more sustainable world, but it has the potential to play a uniquely catalytic role.

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer — but one thing is clear to us: most of our impact happens through the partners working on the ground. The more we help them grow their impact, the more positive change we can contribute to.

Over the past few years, we’ve reflected deeply on this and gradually expanded our role as a funder. In this blog post, I want to share what that shift looks like in practice — and what we’re learning along the way.

From Grantmaker to Growth Partner

We rarely implement programs ourselves. Our role is to identify and invest in organizations that can lead and grow their positive change — not just today, but over the long term.

As our portfolio has grown from 10–14 organizations to 36 by the end of 2024, we’ve seen something clearly: Impact is not defined by how much we fund, but by how much we help our partners grow their impact.

We’ve therefore moved from being a traditional funder to also taking on a broader, more engaged role — guided mainly by valuable input from our partners through partner surveys and direct conversations asking for input on how we can create even more value for them.

Today, we see our engagement across three dimensions:

• Donor— providing financial support.
• Partner— working more closely with grantees, offering greater flexibility and value beyond the grant.
• Accelerator— helping organizations strengthen, scale, and increase their long-term impact.

The Privileges of Philanthropy — and What They Demand

As donors, we have financial resources. But compared to bilateral and multilateral funders, foundations hold unique strengths:

• We can take greater risks.
• We can be more flexible and responsive.
• We can think long-term, free by political cycles.
• And — when at our best — we can create value beyond the financial support we provide.

These privileges come with responsibility. We must be transparent, accountable, and committed to effectiveness. Our flexibility should not be used to preserve the status quo — but to help transform systems for the better.

In light of the urgent global challenges we face, funding business-as-usual is, in our view, not the best use of philanthropic capital. Instead, we are embracing an accelerator mindset — one that shapes what we do and reflects a role we are actively trying to step into.

Why We Now Focus More on Accelerating Organizational Growth

Because we rarely implement programs ourselves, the greatest impact we can have is by helping our partners grow theirs.

As a foundation, we also invest our financial reserves to generate returns. This dual role has prompted us to reflect on the parallels between investing in for-profit companies and in the nonprofit organizations we support.

• Both require patient capital to have results at larger scale — but nonprofits often depend on short-term funding.
• Both need to invest in organizational capacity to grow — yet nonprofits cannot raise funds through loans or equity in the same way.
• While a company’s success is easily measured in financial metrics, a nonprofit’s success — its impact — is often harder to quantify.

This has led us to an important conclusion: If we want to support nonprofits with the greatest potential for impact, we must apply a long-term perspective and focus much more on organizational strengthening. But at the same time, we must raise our expectations for demonstrated organizational growth and the impact achieved.

What It Takes to Help Organizations Grow Their Impact

To support meaningful, lasting growth, we — very often together with other partners — must go beyond traditional grantmaking to provide tailored, strategic support:

• Organizational strengthening— investing in organizational capacity do deliver more effectively and at larger scale and impact.
• Sharper impact models and evidence— using data to understand what works and why.
• Access to networks and knowledge— opening doors to new collaborations and funding.
• Stronger brands and platforms— helping organizations be seen, heard, and supported.

We therefore need to invest in organizations that has the potential and an appetite for having larger impact. And where the right strategic support can help achieve that.

A Continuous Journey

As foundations, we must keep asking ourselves: Are we doing enough to enable the highest possible impact? We don’t have all the answers but are reflecting on some — and we’re always open to learning from others. So please share your input.

In the coming blog posts, I’ll share how we apply this approach across our work in education, biodiversity, and social initiatives in Denmark.