How We Win

We are pleased to share an in-depth article co-authored by Civitas Partner Marc Solomon and The Bridgespan Group Managing Partner William Foster about characteristics that winning policy campaigns share, and the role of philanthropy in fueling their success.

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Titled Betting on the Tortoise: Policy Incrementalism and How Philanthropy’s Support Can Turn Small Sustained Steps into Big Impact, Solomon and Foster analyze multiple social movements, both those that have largely achieved their goals and those that are very much in process. The article illustrates how steady, incremental, and often state-focused policy change efforts, supported by consistent philanthropic investment, lead to major national policy shifts over time, and are more possible than widely appreciated.

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This piece builds on the 2018 article When Philanthropy Meets Advocacy, co-authored by Civitas’ Patrick Guerriero and The Bridgespan Group’s Susan Wolf Ditkoff, which addressed philanthropic opportunities to engage in effective advocacy.