Back Donate
Donate

Dear Reader,

On the eve of the 2024 United States presidential election, we find ourselves raising the alarming question of whether democracy in the United States as we know it will survive. This edition of Responsive Philanthropy (RP) confronts some of the ways philanthropy contributed to getting us to this challenging place and what is needed as we march forward, regardless of the outcome of the election.

In these tumultuous times, the fragility of our democratic institutions and the forces undermining them have become glaringly apparent. As we confront these challenges, these 5 incisive RP articles shed light on the threats to democracy and propose vital solutions to fortify our collective future.

My NCRP colleague Katherine Ponce provides a sobering analysis of how right-wing nonprofits have channeled significant resources to dismantle democratic norms. Highlighting the explosive growth of anti-democratic funding, her piece serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to counteract these forces with strategic, values-driven philanthropy.

This issue of RP offers a robust critique and thoughtful analysis of the current philanthropic and political climate. Authors and co-authors include Annissa G. McCaskill and Jia Lian Yang; Sulma Arias, KD Chavez, Denise Collazo, Lauren Jacobs, and Peggy Shepard; Rana Elmir; and Rye Young. These authors challenge us to reimagine our approaches to funding, activism and solidarity by urging us to shift from reactionary stances to proactive and principled engagement. As we grapple with these issues, let us heed their call to action with urgency and resolve.

Funders should be supporting year-round civic engagement and democracy efforts – not just in election cycles – and move more money faster and earlier like the All by April campaign did earlier this year. It’s impossible to hold on to progress if funding delays require organizations to completely restart their work every other year.

This issue of Responsive Philanthropy underscores a crucial message: Our democracy’s resilience depends on addressing both the overt and subtle threats it faces. By embracing thoughtful, proactive strategies and shifting our philanthropic focus, we can better uphold the principles of equity and justice. As we engage with these insights, let us commit to fostering a more robust and inclusive democracy for all.

Unidos en la lucha,

Russell Roybal

More Responsive Philanthropy

Fall 2024 Issue
Democracy: Before, During and After Election Years

10 years after Ferguson: How philanthropy can bridge funding gaps for Black and brown-led organizations


Forward Through Ferguson’s Annissa McCaskill and Jia Lian Yang recount how philanthropy reacted – and continue to react — to funding disparities in Black and brown-led organizations after the murder of Michael Brown Jr.

5 lessons learned about trust-based philanthropy


In this collaborative piece, four organizers discuss the benefits to communities and systems change when funders center Black and brown voices and utilize the values and principles of feminist leadership to resource grassroots power.
A clarion call: How attacks on U.S. Palestinian solidarity movements undermine our democracy


Proteus Fund’s Rana Elmir draws the parallel between the inadequate funding behavior for Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian movement groups post 9/11 and the current attacks on Palestinian solidarity movements.

The philanthropic strategies and networks attacking our democracy


NCRP’s Katherine Ponce utilizes research, data points and history to showcase what progressive movements can learn from the right-wing nonprofits networks that are attacking our democracy.

First Trans Rights, Then All Rights


Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ Rye Young writes how heightened attacks on LGBTQ+ communities have impacted the very function of democracy. How complicit is philanthropy to these far-right advances?
Featured Visual Artist: Gregg Chadwick


Find out more about visual artist Gregg Chadwick, whose work is featured in the Fall 2024 issue of Responsive Philanthropy.

Dear Reader, 

NCRP’s commitment to climate justice predates this appeal to invest in social movements. The devastation of a rapidly heating planet has been an ongoing concern; the question has always been how philanthropy should address climate change, not whether it should.

The clarion call to invest in movements is heightened when movements intersect with environmental injustices: as Indigenous communities fight corporations to protect their land and water, as migrants are forced to leave homes devastated by climate change and pollution, and as communities that have been underserved and marginalized build mutual aid to replace extractive economic models.

The same disturbances surfaced in climate justice work that we saw in other movement spaces. The needs, experiences, and expertise of communities directly affected by climate change and environmental injustice were discounted in favor of a few influential funders. Billionaires styled themselves as experts and saviors, but the push to “move fast and break things” doesn’t work for the climate crisis.

Though climate change is an existential threat to everyone, organizations on the front lines have been coming to terms with the shift and have been finding real solutions. To responsibly invest in the climate justice movement is to invest in a just transition. As our board member Farhad Ebrahimi describes as he reflects on the Chorus Foundation, “What does it look like to support the kind of infrastructure at the community level that credibly makes them that much less dependent on outside philanthropic or investment organizations such as our own?” 

The way that we address climate change has the ability to change the planet. And the ways that funders specifically support a movement of Indigenous people and people of color fighting to protect their water, air, and community has the ability to reshape the sector entirely. The just transition model has been saving communities directly impacted by pollution, disasters, and climate change. This model could be a paradigm shift in the practice of philanthropy – if we let it. 

The stakes have never been higher, and the path has never been clearer.   

Be bold,

Aaron Dorfman
NCRP President and CEO

Stylized, artistic picture of post Katrina flooding.

More Responsive Philanthropy

Summer 2023 Issue: Redirecting Climate Justice Towards a Just Transition

Displaced On Repeat: Black Americans and Climate Forced Migration

Jacqueline Patterson, Founder and Executive Director of the Chisholm Legacy Project, writes about how the climate change that is forcing millions around the world to flee to America is also driving the internal migration of frontline Black and Latine peoples in the South and Southeast.
Chorus Foundation Retrospective: A Q&A with Founder & Chair Farhad Ebrahimi

NCRP’s Senowa Mize-Fox chats with NCRP Board Member and Chorus Foundation Founder and Chair Farhad Ebrahimi on what funder organizing looks like in the context of a just transition.
Philanthropy Must Jumpstart Just Transition to a Regenerative Economy

Marion Gee, Co-Executive Director of the Climate Justice Alliance, discusses the different regenerative practices that grantmakers and intermediaries can implement to address the climate crisis in a way that builds up, rather than steals from, impacted communities.
The Community at the Center: The Interplay Between the ICWA Decision and Environmental Justice

Dawn Knickerbocker (Anishinaabe), Vice President of Communications and External Affairs for Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP), shares a very personal reflection of connection between Indigenous sovereignty and climate justice through the struggle to uphold 1978’s Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).
Stylized, artistic picture of post Katrina flooding.
Listening to the Experts: A Campaign to Redirect Climate Justice & Just Transition

NCRP President & CEO Aaron Dorfman details how the Summer 2023 issue of Responsive Philanthropy kicks off a multi-year campaign that seeks to encourage grantmakers to prioritize a just transition away from an extractive to a regenerative economy that invests in community and frontline power, redistributes resources equitably, and upholds deep democracy and self-determination.
Putting ‘Justice’ in ‘Climate Justice Philanthropy’

The Clima Fund Leadership Team of Laura Garcia, Chung-Wha Hong, Kate Kroeger, and Solomé Lemma describe their grantmaking experiences supporting and engaging with frontline organizations in new, innovative, but non-extractive, ways.
Headshot of NCRP President and CEO, Aaron Dorfman in color

Dear Reader,

It seems like every news story brings a new reason to catastrophize about our democracy. The stakes have never been higher, some lawmakers are blocking every piece of legislation that would help build a stronger society, and once revered institutions are losing public trust.

Times like these feel discouraging until we look to movement groups on the ground. This summer’s Power Issue highlights movement groups building their community’s political power and challenges funders to wield their power well. At a time when American society seems to transform every week, movements remind us that change comes at the speed of trust. 

Karundi Williams and Kavita Khandekar Chopra of re:power (whose Board I serve on) powerfully describe this, saying that “civic engagement work can move beyond being transactional, to being transformational.”

Nonoko Sato from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits writes that frontline groups doing civic engagement are hampered when funders don’t audaciously support the work.   

Dakota Hall from the Alliance for Youth Organizing agrees, challenging funders to boldly support 501(c)(4) organizations. Addressing foundations who fear being viewed as partisan, he says, “This isn’t about political parties. It’s about moving the political process closer to the people. It’s about investing in a more accurate and engaged electorate by allowing the groups on the ground to have the full, robust conversations our communities deserve.”  

In Puerto Rico, the directors of Mentes Puertorriqueñas en Acción describe their own ladder of civic engagement from volunteering to leadership, and map how marginalized young adults can become activist leaders when they are centered. They ask, who are we building power for?  

Asserting that a community-focused political process involves meeting needs, Tim Wallace pushes back against funders’ arbitrary categorization of direct service and advocacy organizations, arguing that the nonprofits advocating most effectively can do so because of deep relationships to communities through their direct service.   

Laleh Ispahani from Open Society Foundations shares the evolution in thinking that has occurred at the foundation in recent years. They no longer fund civic engagement around particular issues in siloes. Instead, she writes, they have learned “that the best way to advance reforms is by ensuring that impacted communities have enough power to shape the policies that shape their lives.” She shares about OSF’s “10-year strategy to build a pro-democracy, multi-racial majority in the U.S., an open society alliance fully committed to inclusive democracy, with enough political, economic, and cultural power to govern.”  

From youth engagement to voting rights to reproductive justice, frontline groups have been building communities and building lasting power in a hostile climate for years. These nonprofit groups show that the challenges the U.S. face are far from unprecedented – and that they can be overcome. More than that, they give philanthropy the unique opportunity to do more than just keep current systems from crumbling, showing that if we are bold, we can all be part of transforming our society for the better.   

Be bold,   

Aaron Dorfman 
NCRP President and CEO 

  

 

Dear Reader,

It is no secret that philanthropy was designed with little consideration of whether there would be space where I could find safety, community and agency.

A seat at a table where my philanthropic counterparts were not discussing their commitment to rescue some part of my identity through their giving and performative statements of solidarity. A room that has not found a reason to silence me because of its commitment to respectability, white supremacy or misogyny.

And while I have struggled to find that space that holds me in my entirety, I found refuge amongst familiar comrades: other current and former sex workers.

Sex worker–led spaces have consistently been what I have considered to be my movement homes. The frontlines across movements, from labor rights, racial justice, reproductive access, LGBTQ rights and gender equality, are being led and influenced by sex workers.

Our knowledge and experience have been vital in the work toward liberation and freedom from violence, and our presence continues to shift work in transformative ways. Despite the sector’s attempts to cast sex workers into the shadows, we are in fact your program officers, development coordinators and movement engagement managers.

Unfortunately, criminalization, violence and stigma have led to philanthropy silencing sex workers, erasing our contributions to the sector and leaving sex worker-led movements under-resourced.

From 2015–2019, sex workers received less than 1% of all human rights funding. This is a result of the sector treating sex workers and those in the sex industry as something parallel to the work that foundations have committed to, something far beyond the invisible funding lines that they have drawn. In actuality, there is not a single issue or movement that does not center or intersect with the oppressions that sex workers face.

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) is proud to feature just a few of the sex worker–led funding and movement initiatives that help move society closer to doing more for those who are marginalized, underserved and disenfranchised.

“Funder Lessons from 4 Years of Resourcing Sex worker–led Organizing and Grantmaking at the Sex Worker Giving Circle” by Christian Giraldo, program officer at Sex Worker Giving Circle at Third Wave Fund, highlights the truths and realities of “who keeps us safe.”

The Sex Worker Outreach Project Los Angeles (SWOP LA) introduces its work that references “how a lack of funding impacts sex workers is in how it displaces us from coordinating our own research into our own lives and communities.”

In “Trans and Sex Worker Justice Needs Steady Allyship,” Maddalynn Sesepasara at the Kua’ana Project demands that “the absence of funding for trans-led and sex worker-led organizations who have decriminalization advocacy in their portfolio ensures that the battle for organizational survival will have to be simultaneously waged on multiple fronts.”

“Be Fund(ed) or Die: The Precarity of Sex Worker Organizing” by Red Schulte, with contributions and considerations from The Support Ho(s)e Collective, is about the importance of “accompliceship, not charity” and names the “potential for participatory programs led by communities directly impacted to shift the discourse away from voyeuristic donor-driven charity and into accompliceship and wealth redistribution.”

We hope you hear the storytellers from the frontlines of sex worker–led initiatives and use them as a resource and guide to allocate more funds to the work they are committed to.


In Solidarity,
Brandi Collins – Calhoun
NCRP Movement Engagement Manager

Dear reader, 

The last issue of “Responsive Philanthropy” celebrated NCRP’s 45 years and asked what philanthropy should look like in the next 45. This issue celebrates philanthropy now and looks at what this sector is doing to build the future that we want. It’s actually something we like to do every two years at NCRP’s Impact Awards. 

For many, this year’s virtual Impact Awards takes place in a world significantly changed from the world in which our last one in Seattle was held. However, grassroots movement groups have been ready for this moment for decades. They’ve shed light on needed systemic changes and work daily on the courageous work of transforming society regardless of the media spotlight.  

The 2021 Impact Awards celebrated those funders who stepped up in important and innovative ways to support these movements. These issues featured in the speeches they delivered when accepting their awards. They are leading with courage and helping show how philanthropy can play a truly meaningful role in building a more fair and just society. Their focus on amplifying communities and deep roots in movement are a glimpse of what the philanthropy of the future can look like, right now.  

I was blown away by their work, and I am sure you will be too. Congratulations again to California Wellness Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Third Wave Fund and Four Freedoms Fund.  

Rounding out the issue, our Senior Associate for Movement Research Stephanie Peng argues that the right kind of data fuels movements and challenges funders to find it. We also take a step inward as NCRP’s former Evaluation Director Lisa Ranghelli shares our progress at the midpoint of a decade-long strategic campaign to push grantmakers to wield and share their power more effectively. Changing the world often begins at home, and I am proud that we continue to not just push the sector to do better, but also ourselves.  

As I mentioned in my closing remarks at the Impact Awards, to build a fairer and more just world, leaders of philanthropies must have the courage to drive change and make their organizations better. My hope is that this and every issue of RP provides readers the inspiration to be that courageous changemaker in their institution.  

You know what needs to be done.  

You can make it happen.  

Everyone at NCRP will have your back while you push for what’s right.

Dear Reader, 

In 1976, a group of courageous nonprofit leaders decided they would attempt to hold philanthropy accountable to the needs of communities who had been marginalized in society. They made the important decision to transition from an ad hoc coalition, the Donee Group, to a permanent organization and thus birthed the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. A grant from the Rockefeller Foundation provided the initial seed money. 

In this issue of Responsive Philanthropy, we look back at the most important accomplishments of NCRP’s first 45 years and look forward to how philanthropy can be better both in the near-future and another 45 years from now. 

In “NCRP at 45: What it means to be philanthropy’s critical friend,” I reflect on NCRP’s first 45 years, from Bob Bothwell’s amazing leadership in the 20th century, to the incredible work done under Rick Cohen, to my own tenure that began in 2007. While NCRP has done research and advocacy on many different philanthropic issues during that time, what our greatest accomplishments have in common is that they have fallen into 2 important and related areas: accountability and social justice. 

Daniel Lee, NCRP’s board vice-chair who recently stepped down after 13 outstanding years leading Levi Strauss Foundation, discusses the lessons the foundation – and its parent company – learned from working directly with grassroots leaders in “Working with grassroots leaders has changed our foundation (and business) for the better.” 

Lee writes, “We believe this work reflects the new reality that business and politics are intertwined – and that companies and their foundations have a critical role to play in defending our democracy and in shaping the future.” 

Lee is not the only philanthropy leader using NCRP’s anniversary to look into the future. We asked 7 visionary leaders from across the sector to answer the question “What should philanthropy look like 45 years from now?” They gave us a variety of answers, with some seeing a future where philanthropy has more power to do good, and others seeing a future where philanthropy plays a much smaller role. 

In its 45 years, NCRP has benefitted from incredible leadership on its board. We asked each of our 7 previous board chairs to tell us which accomplishments they think are NCRP’s most important. Read what they have to say in “‘Disruption is my jam’: 7 Former board chairs discuss NCRP’s greatest accomplishments.” 

We hope you enjoy this issue of Responsive Philanthropy. Do you have a favorite NCRP accomplishment or an idea for how philanthropy should look in the future? Email us at community@ncrp.org and let us know! 

Best regards, 

Aaron Dorfman 

Dear Reader,

When I became pregnant with my first child, I had health insurance, financial stability and excellent prenatal care.

I had a home, nutritious food, a car, a hospital located nearby and someone to drive me there.

I hadn’t done anything to deserve these things. I had them largely because as a white, upper class woman there are multiple societal structures built to give me the right to make certain choices — and to rob others of the same opportunity.

I was able to choose to delay parenthood until my 30s because I had the right to access comprehensive sex education and contraception. I chose an OB/GYN that provided premium care because I had access to the right to health care. My parents and grandparents were not redlined or subjected to predatory lending, but instead had access to the right to housing that created the generational wealth I used to buy a home in the neighborhood of my choice.

“Choice” in mainstream, predominately white-led reproductive rights discourse typically refers to the individual right to make one specific choice: whether (or not) to have an abortion.

A reproductive justice lens looks at the society surrounding that individual — not just at one choice, but at the multiple of choices that people should be able to make about their bodies and lives and why some groups of people have the right to do so while others do not.

Who gets to make which choices — or gets a choice at all — is a structural issue. NCRP’s new focus on reproductive access and gendered violence in our Movement Investment Project continues our support for frontline groups combatting the structures that stand in the way of social justice.

We are proud to feature movement leaders who help connect the dots and urge us to think differently about the nexus of reproductive access, race, class and inclusion.

The power of personal stories to reflect and shift societal structures is the focus of We Testify, whose founder Renee Bracey Sherman contributed “Sharing abortion stories means investing in storytellers as leaders.”

In “Sex education funding: There has to be a better way,” Reproaction Deputy Director Shireen Rose Shakouri calls on philanthropy to support the right to comprehensive sex education in the face of a conservative movement that seeks to limit young people’s choices through shaming, stigma and misinformation.

“Philanthropy must invest in Black-led organizations to improve maternal mortality,” a Q&A by NCRP staff of National Birth Equity Collaborative President Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, makes clear that systemic racism is at the root of inequity in maternal health and morbidity, and investing in Black women-led organizations and solutions are the only path forward to addressing it.

We hope you engage with the critical questions and calls to action from our authors and look forward to working collectively to support reproductive justice!

 

Dear Reader,

Leadership matters, especially in challenging times.

I am feeling deep gratitude for the nonprofits (501c3 and 501c4) that played such an incredibly important role this year protecting democracy. Their work was absolutely pivotal.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been elected president and vice president of the U.S. Control of the Senate won’t be decided until the January runoff elections in Georgia. While the full implications of the election remain uncertain, one thing is crystal clear: Philanthropic funding for movements will be needed more than ever in 2021. Sustained grassroots organizing is essential if we hope to make progress on the pressing issues facing our nation and the world.

In this issue of Responsive Philanthropy, we explore courageous leadership and damaging failures of leadership at some of the nation’s largest philanthropies.

Our lead story is about the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) and allegations of racial discrimination toward Black staff. In “Performative philanthropy and the cost of silence,” Ray Holgado, a former CZI employee who this week filed a discrimination claim against the philanthropy with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, offers a blistering critique and suggestions for how the field can move forward. 

The NoVo Foundation’s decision earlier this year to eliminate its gendered violence program is an egregious example of philanthropy abandoning Black women and girls. In “Filling in NoVo’s void,” Brandi Collins-Calhoun, NCRP’s senior movement engagement associate, shares a deeply personal account of how this decision is impacting Black women in philanthropy and social justice movements. She also challenges other donors to step up and urges NoVo to execute a responsible exit – something the foundation has committed to in general terms without offering any specifics thus far.

The above examples notwithstanding, it has not been all bad news for philanthropic leadership in 2020. In fact, many high net worth donors and foundations have been leading in phenomenal ways. My contribution to this issue lays out some shining examples of how “Donors and foundations are increasingly supporting movements.”

We hope you enjoy this issue of Responsive Philanthropy. Comments are always welcome at community@ncrp.org.

Best regards,

Aaron Dorfman

Dear Reader,

We are in a moment of great pain – but also a moment of great social transformation.

The combined crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and uprisings against law enforcement have exposed the broken parts of our systems and institutions in an unprecedented way.

Philanthropy has an opportunity to respond to these gaps with courage. Black-led organizations fighting for social justice have repeatedly explained the need for more funding and better relationships with philanthropy. For decades our sector has been aware of health and resource disparities that led to disproportionate impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

In this issue of Responsive Philanthropy, our authors invite us to act boldly on best practices and shift priorities to support organizations who work to correct the weak points in our society.

Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson of the Deaconess Foundation reminds us that now is the time to be explicit about race, anti-Blackness and racial equity. Funders can use communications platforms and advocacy resources to help movement leaders push policy beyond what is pragmatic for a just-recovery.

Nichole June Maher of Group Health Foundation urges philanthropy to find the willpower to wield its social, political and economic power and acknowledge its ongoing role in social inequities.

Aaron Dorfman, NCRP CEO, shares reflections from Satterberg Foundation grantees about a model that other family foundations can follow. A popular and helpful practice that every foundation could do, especially in moments of crisis, is increase payout.

Finally, we hear from several funders and donors about why they give to 501(c)4 organizations, a critical strategy for supporting organizations that fight to correct broken systems.

Philanthropy at its best trusts frontline, movement organizations, Black-led organizations and others with deep networks in marginalized communities deserve that trust now more than ever as they lead the charge for significant policy change and social transformation.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be a partner in the nation’s social transformation.

Best,

Jeanné L. Lewis

Vice President and Chief Engagement Officer

“The principle of equality, which is at the core of democratic values, has very little meaning in a world where the oligarchy is taking over.”  

– bell hooks 

Annissa McCaskill

How can responsive philanthropy nurture equity and justice? The United States attempts to portray itself as an ideal democracy where representatives are elected by “the people.” But is it possible for a country to truly be democratic when it was founded on the systematic exclusion of Indigenous, Black and brown people? This country has a “democracy issue”, and responsive philanthropy is unfortunately the main answer to it.

But why are we more often reactionary, rather than proactive in our philanthropy? Why is philanthropy that empowers the disenfranchised most often a response to crisis, rather than the basis of a new, improved approach to resourcing organizations and initiatives? Why, after the crisis simmers down, can we not sit in the real discomfort that we feel, the tension between the world we live in and the one we aim to create? The answer, dear friends, is that democracy and traditional philanthropy must fulfill their promises for those who typically are only identified as “other.”

Philanthropy’s Response to Ferguson

On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown Jr., was murdered by a white police officer as he was walking to his grandmother’s home in Ferguson, Missouri. I found out about his death via social media. I watched as people uploaded images as events unfolded. Then I watched “democracy” stall. Michael’s body lay in the street in front of Canfield Green Apartments for 4.5 hours before it was removed. The dignity of being covered was given by a resident who provided a sheet, not by the authorities who were on site to “investigate.” His death was treated as if it was a minor administrative issue until the community made clear that it was not and insisted that it be treated like the deep, tragic loss that it was.

Jia Lian Yang

The Ferguson Uprising was a response to the status quo. In the uprising, we witnessed what happens when generations of residents are systematically excluded from justice, resources and yes – democracy. We also saw a flood of responsive philanthropy and goodwill statements. However, the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity noted in “Mismatched: Philanthropy’s Response to the Call for Racial Justice”: “Even with the increased attention to the impact and importance of Black-led organizing, especially since the Ferguson uprising in 2014 and the growing focus on Black Lives Matter movement work, of all funding directed toward Black communities, the percentage awarded for grassroots organizing in 2015-2018 never exceeded 2 percent.”

Now, 10 years after the murder of Michael Brown Jr., we see a walking back of the promise of responsive philanthropy and goodwill statements, even as efforts to advance anti-racist systems change come under fire. Local and national peer organizations dedicated to creating a new, more equitable society are being told by the philanthropic community that priorities have shifted, and their work is no longer aligned. In short, social justice and equity are no longer trendy, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is now being used as a slur.

In the face of growing white supremacist, fascist and authoritarian movements, the philanthropic community seems to be running scared. Now, more than ever, we need it to boldly step forward. The way to restore democratic movements is not only funding anti-racist systems change organizations and initiatives, but also providing long-term commitments to grassroots organizing.

Centering Community Grantmaking 

We used the phrase “Ferguson is everywhere” during the uprising. This was not just a reference to the rage felt in the wake of Michael’s murder, but the understanding that the foundation of our democracy is flawed. Broken societies built on exclusive social contracts aren’t easily fixed, nor are they stable.

Forward Through Ferguson (FTF) was created to carry on the legacy of the Ferguson uprising and to ensure that the 189 calls to action outlined by the Ferguson Commission are never forgotten. Since we were founded, responsive philanthropy has been essential in supporting our work promoting justice for all, youth at the center, opportunities to thrive and racial equity. At FTF, we advance racial healing and justice by addressing the funding disparities that Black and brown-led organizations face compared to their white counterparts.

The Ferguson Commission report called for the creation of a 25-year endowed and managed Racial Equity Fund to support organizations and initiatives that promote racial healing and justice. For the St. Louis Regional Racial Healing + Justice Fund (RH + JF), which was the pilot program of the Racial Equity Fund, FTF served as project manager while the Deaconess Foundation served as the fiscal administrator. The RH + JF was managed by a community governance board composed of between 9 to 15 Black and brown residents from across the St. Louis region. Across 3 RH + JF cycles, the community governance board distributed over $1.3 million to Black- and brown-led initiatives in areas like education, arts, racial justice, maternal health, youth mentorship, urban farming, holistic wellness and general capacity building.

Those involved with the RH+JF were firmly committed to the kind of proactive and forward-thinking social justice grantmaking that community residents have long sought from philanthropic partners. As the national multiracial nonprofit organization Resource Generation states, “social justice philanthropy focuses on the root causes of social, racial, economic and environmental injustices.” Within a democracy, philanthropic organizations have a unique opportunity to support initiatives that strengthen civic engagement, protect democratic values and promote social justice. The RH + JF evaluative process will end in September with a presentation of what has been learned.

However, one thing that remains uncertain is whether we can secure long-term partners and resources to create an endowed, perpetual fund. This has been a question that has long hovered over the process. At its inception, financial partners and resources for the RH + JF were scarce. Now, at the completion of the RH + JF pilot, we are still seeking investors willing to join us in this generationally impactful work.

By investing in the Racial Healing + Justice Fund, philanthropic organizations can support the transformative work being done by Forward Through Ferguson and contribute to building a more equitable and just society. We believe the Fund serves as a model for responsive philanthropy that prioritizes the needs of marginalized communities while addressing systemic barriers that perpetuate racial disparities.

The Funding Disparities that Weigh Down Black- and Brown-led Organizations 

Despite the important work being done by FTF and other Black- and brown-led organizations, there exists a significant disparity in the amount of funding we receive compared to our white-led counterparts. Studies have shown that philanthropic dollars are disproportionately allocated to organizations led by white individuals, while Black- and brown-led organizations struggle to secure the resources they need to sustain their work.

Recent local fundraising data illustrates that point too clearly. In 2022, the local Give STL Day initiative raised $4.053 million for local nonprofits spanning 12 categories, including human services, animal and health focused organizations. Less than 2% of the funds raised went to Black-led and Black-benefiting organizations. Results remained similar in 2023, which led the St. Louis Community Foundation to conduct focus groups and address the funding disparities experienced by Black-led and Black-serving organizations.

Of course, communities are not standing still but mobilizing to shift practices. In 2018, Young, Black & Giving Back Institute Founder Ebonie Johnson Cooper created Give 8/28 Day – a giving day focused on and dedicated to grassroots, Black-led and Black-serving nonprofits. In 2023, this national day of giving raised $220,000 to support Black-led and Black-serving nonprofits. Yet we cannot do it alone. We know that it is possible to focus on addressing funding gaps experienced by Black-led and serving organizations and that we need to continue pressing for data that can evaluate and inform such efforts, both locally and nationally.

This funding disparity reflects broader systemic issues of inequity and funding gap and supports the transformative work being done by organizations like Forward Through Ferguson. Addressing the disparities in funding for Black- and brown-led organizations is crucial for advancing equity and social justice. Philanthropic organizations must actively work to dismantle systemic barriers and biases that hinder access to resources and support for Black- and brown-led organizations. By centering DEI in their grantmaking practices, philanthropy can help create a more level playing field and amplify the impact of organizations working toward racial healing and justice.

A Crucial Time for Resourcing – and Democracy

Moving forward, it is imperative that philanthropic organizations embrace responsive philanthropy as a guiding principle in their work. By remaining attuned to evolving community needs, fostering collaboration and partnership, and prioritizing equity and justice in their grantmaking practices, philanthropy can play a pivotal role in nurturing a more inclusive, equitable, and participatory democracy.

In conclusion, responsive philanthropy in democracy is a powerful force for positive change, particularly in addressing racial disparities and advancing social justice. By supporting initiatives that empower marginalized communities, amplify diverse voices, and promote equity and inclusion, philanthropic organizations can contribute to building a more just and equitable society for all. Through strategic partnerships, capacity-building efforts, and a commitment to amplifying marginalized voices, philanthropy can help bridge the funding gap for Black- and brown-led organizations and foster a more inclusive and equitable philanthropic sector.

At Forward Through Ferguson, we acknowledge that we often sit in discomfort between the future that we are working toward and the reality within which we exist. In the spirit of responsive philanthropy, let us continue to work together toward a future where all voices are heard, all communities are empowered, and all individuals have the opportunity to thrive and contribute to a more just and equitable society. We ask that the philanthropic community join us in sitting in discomfort until ALL can be comfortable.

Annissa G. McCaskill is the Executive Director of Forward Through Ferguson, where she is responsible for supporting staff in its work of centering racial equity in systemic systems change, building organizational stability, and advancing strategic leadership. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a graduate of the HBCU Livingstone College, and has forged a career shattering barriers as the first African American to be both elected to serve as President of the M.P.A. Student’s Association and nominated for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship at Indiana State University, and the first African American to hold municipal positions in Chesterfield, MO; University City, MO; and Belleville, IL.

Jia Lian Yang (she/they), MDiv/MSW, is a storyteller, cultural worker, and facilitator. Born and raised in San Jose, California, she came to St. Louis in 2012 to pursue a Master of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and Master of Divinity at Eden Theological Seminary. They are the Director of Storytelling & Communications at Forward Through Ferguson, where they manage data storytelling initiatives such as #Transforming911 and craft narratives around grassroots efforts to advance Racial Equity.

More Responsive Philanthropy

Fall 2024 Issue
Democracy: Before, During and After Election Years

10 years after Ferguson: How philanthropy can bridge funding gaps for Black and brown-led organizations


Forward Through Ferguson’s Annissa McCaskill and Jia Lian Yang recount how philanthropy reacted – and continue to react — to funding disparities in Black and brown-led organizations after the murder of Michael Brown Jr.

5 lessons learned about trust-based philanthropy


In this collaborative piece, four organizers discuss the benefits to communities and systems change when funders center Black and brown voices and utilize the values and principles of feminist leadership to resource grassroots power.
A clarion call: How attacks on U.S. Palestinian solidarity movements undermine our democracy


Proteus Fund’s Rana Elmir draws the parallel between the inadequate funding behavior for Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian movement groups post 9/11 and the current attacks on Palestinian solidarity movements.

The philanthropic strategies and networks attacking our democracy


NCRP’s Katherine Ponce utilizes research, data points and history to showcase what progressive movements can learn from the right-wing nonprofits networks that are attacking our democracy.

First Trans Rights, Then All Rights


Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ Rye Young writes how heightened attacks on LGBTQ+ communities have impacted the very function of democracy. How complicit is philanthropy to these far-right advances?
Featured Visual Artist: Gregg Chadwick


Find out more about visual artist Gregg Chadwick, whose work is featured in the Fall 2024 issue of Responsive Philanthropy.