High Impact Philanthropy Academy

High Impact Philanthropy Academy

Amplify your impact
and do more good

Accepting applications now for the 2026 cohort

Join us May 12 - 14, 2026 on Penn's beautiful Ivy League campus, then continue online in our interactive, virtual classroom to earn a Certificate in High Impact Philanthropy.

Unlock the power of philanthropy with High Impact Philanthropy Academy, a certificate program for individual donors, professional grantmakers, and other philanthropic leaders seeking greater impact. Join our next cohort and learn the principles of high impact philanthropy and how to apply them in real-world situations. Along with the program’s esteemed faculty, peer participants bring a wealth of experience and a valuable community of practice for long after the program ends.

What is High Impact Philanthropy Academy?

Learn more about the experience from faculty and recent alumni.

Is the Academy right for you?

This program is for individual donors, principals, grantmakers, foundation trustees, foundation executive directors/CEOs and other philanthropic leaders who are eager to create more social impact with their giving.

Learn more about who makes a great candidate

Participants must be individuals who make or strongly influence decisions about allocating philanthropic resources and who want their philanthropic activity to create more positive social change (i.e., philanthropy for social impact). They include individual donors, family foundation leaders, professional grantmakers, heads of public charities that make grants, and/or leaders of public agencies that provide funding to nonprofits/NGOs.

The most successful participants are:

  1. Often considering a change or pivot, (e.g., increasing giving and/or adjusting to a liquidity event, adding a new cause area or changing organizational strategy, navigating a generational transition or a relevant life change, seeking more confidence that philanthropic activity is creating intended impact)
  1. Seeking to remove obstacles or address past frustrations (e.g., resolving conflict among trustees, family members, or team members)
  2. At a point in their philanthropic path where they are motivated to learn and find new ways to achieve their goals and accelerate their impact.
  3. Interested in making connections among peers. Willing to share their experience, ask questions, and learn from and with others. May have participated in other philanthropic education opportunities.
  4. Experienced beyond just writing a check to organizations recommended by friends or acquaintances.

What Our Participants Say

Four graduates of High Impact Philanthropy Academy talk about their individual paths to greater impact in the webinar below. Learn more about the experience from faculty and more recent alumni.

What will you learn?

High impact philanthropy is the process by which a philanthropist makes the biggest difference possible, given the amount of capital invested. This means focusing first on achieving social impact – i.e., a meaningful improvement in the lives of others (vs. other concerns such as maximizing the funder’s tax benefit or honoring a funder’s loved one). Participants will learn the tools and strategies needed to apply the principles of high impact philanthropy to their own efforts.

CHIP’s High Impact Philanthropy Program offers:

  • Focus on creating high impact through giving
  • Curriculum developed over 13 years, updated and adapted for each program
  • Small, carefully selected learning cohort
  • Ivy League campus immersion followed by interactive online classes
  • A community of practice that extends beyond the time of the course.

The Certificate in High Impact Philanthropy will be awarded upon successful completion of the course and demonstration of mastery through exams.

2026 Program Dates & Curriculum

Building on expertise in funder education since 2006, CHIP’s course delivery is based on best practices in executive and online education from the University of Pennsylvania. Our faculty members are drawn from across the University of Pennsylvania’s world-class graduate schools, as well as recognized thought leaders in the philanthropic and social impact sectors. Their diverse experiences integrate knowledge for real-world social change. Learn more about our faculty and leadership.

Introductory Session: Zoom Classroom

Tuesday May 5, 11 am – 2 pm ET

Foundations of High Impact Philanthropy: University of Pennsylvania

Tuesday, May 12, 11:30 am – 4:30 pm ET
Wednesday, May 13, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm ET
Thursday, May 14, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm ET

Application to Real World Problems: Zoom Classroom

Tuesday, May 19. 11 am – 1 pm ET
Tuesday, May 26, 11 am – 1 pm ET
Tuesday, June 2, 11 am – 1 pm ET

Our field is expanding with new affinity groups, advocacy groups, peer and external assessment organizations, regional and international associations, and older organizations rebranded for changing times. This session will unpack this increasingly crowded space to help you identify like-minded funders and the latest best practices around your own funding interests during a time of rapid change. This unit includes a session on the history of philanthropy prior to the 21st century to help you understand how practices, institutions, and laws developed as we are challenged to navigate and improve them to achieve more good.

Who doesn’t want to generate ‘high impact’? But what does ‘high impact’ really mean? How can you, as a grantmaker or funder, incorporate the tenets of high impact philanthropy into your own philanthropy? This session builds on the Center’s 10 years of applied research and work with individual, foundation, and corporate funders seeking to achieve greater social impact from their giving. We’ll dispel common myths about social impact, provide the Center’s working definition of high impact philanthropy, and explore how innovation and advocacy can fit into a high impact philanthropic portfolio. Then, through a series of cases and paired/small group exercises, participants will explore the core aspects of high impact philanthropy, applying these principles to their own grantmaking.

Doing the right thing when you have power and money is harder than it seems. This session will help you to anticipate the ethical pitfalls that emerge in grantmaking and consider how following best practices and applying the “conscious use of self” can help you avoid them. This session will dive into case studies that explore conflict of interest, compensation, board composition, funder behavior, the implications behind the power of grantmakers, equitability and social justice.

The American legal system sets significantly different rules for nonprofit organizations and private foundations. What do the current legal changes mean for the practice of philanthropy? What are your grantees’ responsibilities, and what are yours? For private foundations, the penalties for violating the law can jeopardize the existence of your foundation and put board members at risk. Moreover, laws regarding NGO registration and accountability in other countries vary widely. Expenditure responsibility applies for domestic and international grantmaking but the 501(c) 3 designation can streamline the process, What does this mean for your philanthropy?

Program evaluation is a powerful tool for gaining insight into needs, improving programs, and demonstrating impact. But, in order to reap these benefits, you need to know what you want and how to get it from evaluation. What is the difference between monitoring and evaluation? Is establishing metrics the only way to get actionable data? When is the right time to start evaluating? This session of the course will equip you with a clear framework for making good decisions about how to use evaluation to support your philanthropic goals.

Values drive decisions, motivate philanthropic action,  and inform which causes and nonprofits we choose to support. However, philanthropic gifts and grants are just one way we express our values. Increasingly, individuals and institutions are examining what they buy and how they invest to determine whether those other uses of money are consistent with their values and philanthropic goals. This session explores the reasons individuals and professional grantmakers seek greater alignment and how to increase alignment, no matter your starting point.

Because of the personal nature of much of philanthropy, there is particular value in proactively establishing policies regarding spending, compensation, conflict of interest, succession, board composition, decision-making, and more as early as possible. This course module will review policies that are recommended for good governance, as well as those that are legally mandated, and recommend processes for establishing them as painlessly and productively as possible.

Every funder needs a strategy for their grantmaking activities. This session will start with a discussion of the considerations that go into establishing a foundation’s culture, mission, and focus. Then cover the classic grantmaking approaches and analysis and delve into alternative models of funding, including start-ups and innovation, multi-sector grants, advocacy and more. Also included are sessions on funder decision making and exit strategies to help funders establish constructive guidelines for ending grants responsibly under a variety of circumstances.

Each course participant will be invited to present or propose a case challenge from their own work for class review and discussion. These can be presented anonymously if desired. These conversations will provide an opportunity for very personalized take-aways from the week’s curriculum.

Admissions & Tuition

Tuition: $8,500 (includes breakfast and lunch during on-campus sessions)
Early Bird Rate 1: $7,000 for registrations received by November 30
Early Bird Rate 2: $8,000 for registrations received by January 31

The admissions process is selective, based on your application and interview to ensure a strong fit between your goals and the program and creating a high-caliber learning cohort. No transcripts or test scores are required.

Start your application: Application for High Impact Philanthropy Academy

Cancellation Policy:

  • Cancel more than 90 days before the program: full transfer or refund minus $2,000 administrative cost
  • Cancel within 90 days: transfer minus $2,000 administrative cost
  • Cancel within 30 days: 50% fee transfer to the next cohort

Group Rates: Contact Nick Matlin at nmatlin@upenn.edu for details.

 

 

What Our Participants Say

Learn more about the experience from faculty and recent alumni.

“I had the best experience! It’s left me wanting to learn more and I look forward to engaging in other ways in the future.”

“The varied perspectives of those in the course has helped me feel comfortable engaging in conversations about this topic and I’m having a ‘lay of the land’ as I seek to begin building our philanthropic presence.”

“We have exceeded demand for six of our grant programs for the first time in the 49-year history of our organization! My experience in the Penn program directly contributed to these successful outcomes, specifically in how we structure and promote our grants, and the flexibility we provide to our grantees.”

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