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Biodiversity conservation is a primary focus of investment within the broader field of environmental philanthropy, making conservation philanthropy a rapidly growing field of research and practice (Taylor & Blondell, [32]). First, conservation philanthropy has largely remained under the scholarly radar: the field of philanthropic studies has devoted little attention to conservation, while conservation scientists have paid little attention to philanthropy. The limited body of existing research on conservation philanthropy can be found scattered across diverse fields and literatures (e.g., neoliberal natures, philanthrocapitalism, conservation finance, conservation governance, etc.), making it difficult for scholars and practitioners to find it, engage with it, and build on one another's work in a systematic way. [Extracted from the article]

Conservation philanthropy has grown significantly in the past decade. As the number of philanthropic‐supported conservation initiatives increases, so too will the frequency of exits—the ending of funding relationships. A trend toward "strategic philanthropy," where foundations fund time‐limited grants, is already contributing to near‐constant exits. We draw attention to exits as a critical and ubiquitous—yet understudied—part of conservation grantmaking processes that can have tremendous impacts on the people and places foundations invest in. This paper begins to address this research gap with the first empirical study of exit processes in the context of ocean conservation philanthropy. We draw on an analysis of interviews and a knowledge co‐production workshop with donors representing 36 foundations investing in ocean conservation globally to: (1) develop a conceptual framework that broadens and clarifies definitions of exits and provides a common language to characterize exits along varied dimensions, and (2) derive best practices for exiting responsibly. This paper provides timely guidance for environmental philanthropy broadly, including the need to think about exits early and often as an integral part of the grantmaking strategy. Responsible giving must include responsible exits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]