What Traditional Philanthropy Misses When Evaluating Impact
In traditional relationships between funders and grantees, power has usually been consolidated with the funder. At Magic Cabinet, we’re experimenting with a new way—listening to and learning from our grantees, creating space for them to share their impact on their own terms.
A Legacy of Resistance and Resilience: Announcing Our Santa Clara Power-building Cohorts
We are excited to announce the launch of our first cohorts of power-building organizations in Santa Clara, California. Over five years, each cohort will manage a $3.2 million pool of capacity-building funding, paving the way for increased collaboration and self-determined impact.
Setting a New Standard: Leveling Up Our Community Engagement Model
As we prepare to launch our next Magic Cabinet cohorts, we’re leveling up our model and setting a new standard for how we enter and engage with communities.
Building Community Power: Magic Cabinet & STRONG Collaborative Fund
We’re excited to share the details of our collaboration with East Bay Community Foundation’s STRONG Collaborative Fund to accelerate $600K in capacity-building funding to grassroots and nonprofit organizations in East Contra Costa County, California.
Move Fast and Trust in Community: Rewriting Our Capacity-Building Rules
Sometimes, getting to yes means rewriting the rules. When our capacity-building model became too limiting, we trusted the expertise of our partners—seeding an idea that took root among multiple Magic Cabinet cohorts.
From Grants to Growth: Capacity-Building Investments for Nonprofit Impact
Several of our nonprofit partners are redefining what innovation looks like—using multi-year, capacity-building funding from Magic Cabinet to build critical infrastructure within their organizations and explore new revenue streams, setting them on a sustainable path for the future.
Listening, Learning, and Building Relationships with Native Communities
As we continue to adapt our model to be more inclusive and responsive, we recognize the need to incorporate Indigenous values into our grantmaking. Through our Native Partnerships work, we’ll expand our grantmaking into Native communities in collaboration with Native-led intermediaries.
A New Chapter of Magic Cabinet’s Grantmaking: Introducing Our First Fiscally-Sponsored Cohorts
We’re excited to announce Magic Cabinet’s first cohorts of fiscally-sponsored organizations. Ushering in a new evolution of our grantmaking, we’re eager to shift power to a new group of nonprofits to help them catalyze impact within the communities they serve.
New Horizons: Reflecting on Five Years with Magic Cabinet
As our first Magic Cabinet cohorts adjourn after five years together, cohort members share lessons learned, surprising moments, capacity-building projects, and what’s on the horizon for their organizations.
Seeding Collaboration: Unscripted Moments from Magic Cabinet Cohorts
Of the many benefits we’ve seen from our Cohort Model, there’s one unique aspect that defines its success: nonprofits resourcing each other to build stronger organizations through collaboration and connection.