Many Hands Inc

Our Mission
Many Hands leverages the power of collective giving to support nonprofits serving and empowering Washington, DC area women, children, and families in socioeconomic need.

Our Vision
To provide philanthropists with meaningful opportunities to give, learn, and serve together in ways that best fit their interests and goals.

Our Values
Many Hands believes in the power of collective giving. Giving as a group, we achieve greater impact than we do as individuals. We value our ability to provide large collective grants to nonprofit partners addressing persistent community needs. We further value the role that collective giving plays in democratizing philanthropy. Originally a women’s organization, we continue to prioritize the empowerment of donors that philanthropy has historically overlooked. We welcome all members who share this goal.

Many Hands believes that diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to our work. To partner effectively with nonprofits working with women, children, and families in socioeconomic need, we must both understand how race and other drivers of inequity shape the distribution of resources and opportunities within our society and, further, recognize and address our individual and collective biases. Valuing and empowering a wide range of voices throughout our organization advances these goals.

Many Hands believes in trust-based philanthropy. Achieving our mission depends on partnerships with nonprofit organizations providing direct service to clients. Trust-based philanthropy confers greater respect on nonprofit providers by acknowledging and reducing the substantial barriers to authenticity in the grantor/grantee relationship. We trust grantees to know the best way to do their work, and we aim to reduce the burdens on nonprofit growth, innovation, and progress.

Many Hands believes in voluntarism. As an organization led and run by volunteers, we can direct greater resources to grantees and offer donors engaging and meaningful opportunities to learn and serve. To ensure the success of this model, we are committed to collaboration, transparency, and mutual respect.

We are an all-volunteer organization that relies on the talents and commitment of our members to maintain high-quality grantmaking and education programs while keeping expenses low. More than one-third of members volunteer in some capacity. We also take advantage of opportunities to learn from and with similar organizations through Philanos, a national network of women's grantmaking organizations.

Since 2004, Many Hands has made more than $2.5 million in grants to 43 organizations responding to the challenges facing women, children, and families living with low income in DC, suburban Maryland, and northern Virginia. More than 700 women have joined Many Hands over this period, deepening their understanding of the region, discovering small nonprofits with big impact, and becoming more committed and capable philanthropists.