Center Community Leadership Through Trust and Unrestricted Support

Across the philanthropic sector, there is growing recognition that how we fund matters as much as what we fund. Trust-based philanthropy, unrestricted funding, and community-led decision-making are no longer outlier ideas, and are instead increasingly seen as essential to advancing equity and impact.

At the Greater New Orleans Funders Network (GNOFN), these ideas take shape in a number of ways, including through the R2I Community Champion Distinguished Service Award.

The award was launched by GNOFN’s Climate Justice Action Table, one of our sector-specific Action Tables, which focuses on advancing equity in climate and environmental work throughout the region. What started as a way to invest in the wellbeing of those leading the efforts in this one important sector quickly revealed a resonance across all the areas of GNOFN’s focus. It also lifted up a more universal truth: the people closest to the work are often the least resourced and the most in need of support that honors their full humanity.

As a result, we made a shift for the second disbursement of these awards in 2025 by integrating the award into our recently launched Wellbeing Fund. The Wellbeing Fund builds on GNOFN’s experience over a decade of collaborative grantmaking and is designed to meet today’s challenges. Guided by data, trust, and lived experience, the Fund is designed to advance regional wellbeing and justice through unrestricted grants. Nonprofit leaders, especially those advancing equity and justice, are navigating increasing demands with limited resources. Research shows that unrestricted funding not only strengthens organizations, but also reduces burnout and increases leaders’ capacity to innovate and sustain their work.

By offering awards with no restrictions, we are working to put a core belief into practice. We believe that people working in nonprofit organizations know what they need. That might mean taking time to rest, paying down debt, or investing in their own development.

Traditional awards and grants can reinforce existing inequities, favoring well-connected organizations with greater visibility and grant-writing capacity. The R2I awards are intentionally designed to disrupt that pattern.

Community drives every stage of the process:

• Nominations come directly from the community, ensuring that recognition reflects lived experience and local knowledge

• Eligibility centers place, focusing on leaders working in specific parishes across the Greater New Orleans region

• The selection process is shared between funders and the community, via a selection committee that includes GNOFN members, past award recipients, and community representatives

This approach reflects a broader shift toward participatory grantmaking, where decision-making power is shared with the community, leading to more equitable and effective outcomes. Just as importantly, it helps avoid the unintentional concentration of resources among a small, familiar set of organizations.

Unrestricted, trust-based support gives nonprofits the flexibility to respond to real conditions. It creates the “breathing room” necessary for reflection, strategy, and long-term sustainability. And when our leaders are sustained, so are the communities they serve.

GNOFN is proud to continue growing this work. We are excited to announce the next group of R2I Community Champion Distinguished Service Award winners in May 2026!