John Schellhase is a director of Strategic Philanthropy at the Milken Institute. He contributes to and manages projects related to strengthening corporate philanthropy, including overseeing the Institute’s Corporate Philanthropy Leadership Collective.
In times of humanitarian disaster, corporate philanthropies often step up to provide critical support. For many companies, deciding when and how to respond, especially in distant communities, can be a complex challenge.
Guided by a charter focused on the transformative benefits of play, the LEGO Foundation recognized the need for a more agile response mechanism for children in crisis situations. In 2024, the LEGO Foundation launched an acute humanitarian response mechanism. This new grantmaking model empowers partners to act much more swiftly than previously, allowing for funding deployment within four weeks of a partner’s request, and in turn, bringing enhanced safety, education, and resilience to children in global humanitarian crises.
This case study details the LEGO Foundation’s ideation, design, and implementation processes for its novel grantmaking mechanism. Key components of the model include the following:
Strategic Intervention Matrix: Utilizing a carefully structured framework to inform the selection and prioritization of interventions.
Frontloading Partner Selection and Model Operations: Making decisions on funding partners and mechanism process to reduce the time it takes to deploy funds and provide a humanitarian response.
Trust-Based Design: Partnering with on-the-ground organizations to co-create solutions that are sustainable, context specific, effective, and tightly aligned to the foundation’s charter.
As corporate philanthropies and private foundations seek to respond more effectively and rapidly to global crises, the LEGO Foundation’s model, as detailed in this case study, offers a number of lessons for pursuing these goals.
Corporate philanthropy has evolved significantly in recent years, moving in many cases from basic charitable giving to more strategic and integrated approaches that align with a company’s values and the unique needs of the communities they...
Senior Associate, Corporate PLC, Milken Institute Strategic Philanthropy
Shiva Inalsingh is a senior associate on the Corporate Philanthropy Leadership Collective team at Milken Institute Strategic Philanthropy. He applies his knowledge in the corporate foundation and nonprofit sectors, analyzing how strategic partnerships and collaboration bolster social impact goals and revitalize communities
This Giving Smarter Guide describes the current state of research, clinical practice, and treatment approaches for uterine leiomyosarcoma (uLMS) and identifies critical areas where philanthropy can significantly advance scientific knowledge...
How individuals choose to organize and deploy their philanthropic capital can be a daunting decision. Philanthropic giving has no one-size-fits-all equation due to the various vehicles and mechanisms available for philanthropists.
Corporate philanthropy is in transition. External trends and heightened stakeholder expectations have placed new pressures on the corporate sector. This report, based on extensive interviews with corporate philanthropy executives, explores...
In 2020, the Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy (CSP) published 'Stepping Off the Sidelines: The Unrealized Potential of Ultra-High-Net-Worth Philanthropy'.
Philanthropic capital has played and will continue to play a critical role as we rebuild after the pandemic. According to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, more than $20 billion in global philanthropic funding was invested in response...
The challenges that science strives to solve are increasingly complex, and making progress toward them requires constant innovation and the expertise of multiple fields of study. Interdisciplinary research drives this innovation by bringing...
The challenges our world is facing today will take a concerted, collaborative effort, and high-impact philanthropists are poised to lead that effort like never before. However, at this moment in time, only 36 percent of the world’s ultra...
The Milken Institute’s 28th annual Global Conference opens today and runs through May 7, 2025, at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Under the theme Toward a Flourishing Future, the conference will gather 1,000 speakers and 5,000 attendees...
Chad Clinton is the director of media relations for the Milken Institute. Hired to this role in August 2021, Clinton develops and executes strategies to amplify the Institute’s core messages by generating coverage of its pillar workstreams, experts, and events.