Introduction To Narrative Stories

Philanthropy is a set of stories: stories about wealth; stories about generosity; stories about need; stories about risk; stories about impact. Some stories are well known, and so often repeated, they present as fact. Other stories are rarely shared. This theme prepares us to attentively listen to and respectfully engage with lots of different stories, including those which are unfamiliar or at odds with what we hold to be true. Stories, especially the unknown and concealed ones, can help us to grapple with the complex social reality that philanthropy operates within and shapes.

Three-hundred years after European Enlightenment, Western institutions are still enamoured with reason, order, and control. We isolate problems. We analyze data. We calculate risk. We manage uncertainty. We treat nature as a machine to fix, stressing questions of ‘how’ while often sidestepping questions of ‘why.'

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  To recognize we work within a realm of complexity
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  To see stories as the unit of analysis and intervention
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  To hone our capacity to listen with curiosity and engage in dialogue
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  To hold space for tension and disagreement as productive
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  To reflect on our own responses to uncertainty

What does it mean to think of philanthropy as a system? Or a challenge to the logic of capitalism? Let's try on some different perspectives and thought experiments to open up the space for inquiry.

See what it looks like when foundations changes the story they are telling to the world about the work to be done and their own role in furthering it. Observe how narrative is a vehicle for purpose, values, and logics.

Welcome to PurposePhil: a systems change approach to reimagining philanthropy. Four leaders explain why purpose and story are at the heart of deep change.

In the Narative Stories podcast, you'll hear from: