About Us

Our Approach

Our grant-making philosophy is supported by five grant-making pillars we’ve honed over the past 15 years. Together, they open a new approach to philanthropy that works more effectively for nonprofits and donors alike.​

Magic Cabinet partners with nonprofits who are:

Listen First

Nonprofit leaders are experts in their fields and have a unique understanding of the communities they serve. Give them the tools they’re asking for and their organizations will flourish.​

Focus on Capacity​

An effective nonprofit is more than its programs. Help them grow stronger from the inside to accomplish their mission with an internal structure that will make an impact well into the future.​

Long-Term Grants Only​

Innovation takes time. Remain committed to funding a nonprofit’s grants for five-years so that a process can be built and perfected with enough time to tackle new challenges.​

Commit to a Community​

Focus on one community at a time by listening to their cross-generational challenges. Then approach solutions from different angles to create a web of thriving services.​

Collaborative Cohorts

Nonprofits have wisdom to share. Find nonprofits with mutually supporting missions and have them meet regularly to present grant proposals to one another for tangible feedback.​

Our Mission

Magic Cabinet champions communities’ work by partnering with nonprofits and other philanthropists to achieve the nonprofits’ missions. We do this by providing long-term capacity-building grants, access to peer networks, and advocating for the broader adoption of collaborative, trust-based philanthropic practice.

Our Vision

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.

A new survey on fiscal sponsorship explores the current state and future state of the field, including opportunities to introduce greater equity to the model.

Several Forbes Nonprofit Council members, including Magic Cabinet's own Christina Engel, share their predictions of top trends they believe will dominate the nonprofit sector in 2024.