The Community Foundation Ireland (CFI) commissioned NB Social Justice Studio in 2024–2025 to examine what it concretely means to protect democracy in a small state under increasing pressure. The brief focused on identifying where philanthropic resources could realistically strengthen democratic life, while also naming the risks and power dynamics inherent in that role. Our task was to generate analysis that could underpin more intentional, courageous and grounded grant‑making decisions, rather than a high‑level rhetorical commitment to “supporting democracy.”
Purpose and framing
The project was deliberately framed as a learning and sense‑making process, not as a branding or strategy exercise. It aimed to:
- Build a shared, evidence‑informed picture of the current democracy protection landscape in Ireland.
- Identify where philanthropic interventions can shift underlying conditions, and where their influence is limited.
- Surface tensions, blind spots and potential unintended consequences in how philanthropy engages with democracy work.
Throughout, the focus remained on democratic infrastructure and practice in Ireland, rather than on generic global narratives about “defending democracy.”
Approach and methods
NB Social Justice Studio used a qualitative, field‑informed approach combining:
- Confidential interviews and dialogues with civil society leaders, community organisers, human rights advocates, journalists, and other field experts.
- Targeted engagement with institutional and philanthropic actors to understand existing funding patterns, priorities and constraints.
- Review of relevant Irish policy and funding trends, alongside international democracy‑protection initiatives, with an emphasis on transferability to the Irish context.
Activist and community insights were treated as core evidence. They shaped the analytical frame, rather than being added as anecdotal illustration after the fact. The work was co‑led by Michael Barron and Jaime Nanci, drawing on combined experience in human rights, movement building, participatory methods and philanthropic systems.
Headline themes
The analysis led to an updated Ten Levers for Democratic Protection framework, grounded in Irish conditions. Key features included:
- A focus on conditions rather than projects: information and narrative ecosystems, grassroots organising capacity, legal and policy infrastructure, civic space, and community‑level resilience.
- Clarity about where philanthropic investment can realistically contribute to change, and where structural or state action is indispensable.
- Explicit attention to risks such as over‑centralisation of power in Dublin, over‑professionalisation of movements, short‑termism, and risk aversion that dilutes necessary dissent.
In parallel with the framework, NB Social Justice Studio developed strategic pathways and scenarios to support CFI’s internal decision‑making, recognising different levels of risk appetite and potential roles within the wider ecosystem.
Collaborative evaluation in practice
As with other NB Social Justice Studio projects, the work with CFI was structured as a collaborative enquiry rather than a one‑off expert report. This meant:
- Co‑defining the central questions with CFI and returning to them iteratively as the work unfolded.
- Providing spaces where frontline actors could speak candidly about both opportunities and fears, without pressure to align with institutional narratives.
- Translating complex political and systemic analysis into clear, accessible language and decision‑support tools for use across the Foundation.
This approach enabled the findings to inform internal strategy discussions, board deliberations and conversations with partners, rather than sitting as a static document.
Studio learning and implications
For Community Foundation Ireland, the work has contributed to a sharper understanding of its potential roles in democracy protection, including when to step forward, when to support others’ leadership and when to avoid inadvertently consolidating existing power imbalances. It has also supported more explicit recognition of the Foundation as a political actor in the broad sense: one that makes choices about which voices and infrastructures are resourced.
For NB Social Justice Studio, this case reinforced several principles that underpin our work on democracy and philanthropy:
- Democratic resilience is a long‑term systems endeavour; it cannot be reduced to a short funding cycle or outsourced solely to civil society.
- Philanthropy is inherently political. The question is not whether it shapes the landscape, but how, and with what accountability.
- Research and analysis should be used to see the landscape more clearly and collectively, not simply to validate pre‑existing plans.
The Community Foundation Ireland project exemplifies NB Social Justice Studio’s approach to collaborative, justice‑oriented evaluation and strategy support: combining rigorous analysis with cultural and political literacy, centring frontline insight, and grounding recommendations in the realities of those working to protect and deepen democracy.
