An Additional Source of Donors: Communities of Color

One of my goals with New Voices of Philanthropy is to add to new voices and perspectives from the many types of positions and experiences in the field of philanthropy. I've invited Paul Bachleitner to begin contributing to New Voices of Philanthropy. Paul brings his experience as a foundation and nonprofit fundraiser and his new perspective as a philanthropic consultant living and working in New York City. Below is Paul's 1st post:

I was delighted a couple of weeks ago during a visit to Minneapolis when Trista asked whether I would contribute an entry to New Voices of Philanthropy. We had escaped subzero temperatures to a warm coffeehouse and, after catching up on gossip from our lives, the conversation turned to the economic meltdown and is impact on foundations and nonprofits. Although we talked about a number of wonderful ideas to jumpstart fundraising programs (including some really clever ones suggested by Trista that will be implemented at Headwaters soon), I should've brought up one untraditional source that I've spent much time researching not very long ago; communities of color.
Most of the time philanthropy engages communities of color as recipients- of grants, donations, wanted and unwanted advice. Seldom are they engaged as donors. But people from communities of color have much to offer nonprofits and foundations, not least of which is financial contributions. Reports from the Coalition for New Philanthropy and other observers have noted that giving in communities of color has been know to match or surpass national averages for giving. Much of the giving occurs through vehicles outside of traditional philanthropy, such as churches, giving circles, and event-oriented giving.
My research in communities of color has found that there are plenty of capable professionals, business owners, and other leaders who aren't involved in philanthropy simply because few organizations have engaged them. Nonprofits and foundations looking to navigate these difficult economic times can gain a lifeline by asking leaders from communities of color to become members of their boards, to participate in communities and other groups, and to attend community programs or initiative, especially those that invite gifts of time, talent, and money from attendees. Communities of color are a rarely tapped resource that we exclude from our fundraising focus at our own peril.
For further information:
Check out the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers as a great place to start to learn more about giving in communities of color.
A number of foundations have begun to develop successful funds from communities of color, including The Saint Paul Foundation.
The Chicago Community Trust's African American Legacy initiative and Nuestro Futuro initiative for Latino philanthropy.
The 21st Century Foundation, a foundation established to build African American philanthropy, is engaged in a number of great initiatives to promote philanthropy in communities of color.
The Asian Pacific Fund, a foundation established to build Asian American philanthropy is also engaged in a number of initiatives to promote philanthropy in communities of color.
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors' Cultures of Giving Fund, which was designed to support emerging donor communities to lead, develop, and grow philanthropic resources for community social change causes.
About Paul Bachleitner
Paul Bachleitner is a communications, marketing, and development and fundraising consultant with over eight years' experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors and participated in the Association of Black Foundation Executives' National Connecting Leaders Fellowship in the same class as Trista and Jasmine. For more informations, go to www.bachwriter.com or feel free to contact him by email at paul (at) bachwriter.com.

Spring Cleaning at New Voices of Philanthropy

*Image is of Minnehaha Falls, my favorite place to visit in the summer.

Even though it is 15 degrees below zero in Minnesota now (how I wish I was exaggerating), I've been doing some spring cleaning at New Voices of Philanthropy. In the next few weeks, you'll see a new look for the blog. It will be hosted by Wordpress and will have some additional pages but the web address will be the same. I am also adding writers that have varied experiences in the field of philanthropy. From executives, to program officers, foundation fundraisers, consultants, and many other variations on those themes. Each will bring their own perspective but all bloggers are here to help you be your best philanthrophizing self. If you are interested in being a regular or occasional writer for New Voices, send me an email at trista (at) DoGoodGuide.com.

Make Better Mistakes

Tagging onto Trista's post on philanthropy's New Year's resolutions, I'm posting an entry from Tactical Philanthropy about making better mistakes. As you know I am a big fan of learning from mistakes and don't think philanthropy does enough 'looking back' to ensure that past mistakes are not repeated. I agree with Sean on 2 points: 1) I too have a stack of books on philanthropy that still need to be read and 2) even though philantrhopy is over 100 years old, we still have a lot to learn. From Sean's post:

The field of philanthropy is a bit like an uncharted wilderness. Unlike most 100+ year old fields, there is no real set of “best practices” in philanthropy. There is no agreed upon way to evaluate a charity. Most donors have never even heard of some of the basic tools of giving like charitable trusts and donor advised funds.
Recently I’ve been discussing with a pretty esteemed group of philanthropic leaders what “strategic philanthropy” even means and how we can tell if someone is practicing it.
As a field we still have an aversion to admitting that philanthropy ever fails at anything. But as everyone knows, admitting a problem is the first step to fixing it.
Personally, I’m still in the thick of learning about philanthropy. I have a large stack of books about philanthropy next to my desk that I have yet to read and another large stack of those I have. But with One-Click ordering from Amazon, it seems that my “To Read” pile grows faster than I can keep up.
So let’s be ambitious and work hard to build a new and better philanthropy. But let’s also be humble and realize that we all have so much to learn. Philanthropy as a field of practice is still in its infancy. So rather than resolve that next year we will do more, do better, do faster. Let us humbly resolve that in 2009 we will make better mistakes than we did in 2008. Let’s make mistakes that are the result of daring, well informed risks. Mistakes that demonstrate our willingness to embrace the unknown and try things that other people tell us can’t be done. Let’s make mistakes that we can be proud of, the kind of mistakes that we brag about over a beer with friends, “Remember that time when we….?!”
And who knows. Maybe we’ll all create something wonderful.

Nonprofit Umoja

As you have all heard, the Madoff scam has hurt many nonprofits, especially many social justice nonprofits. I read a recent article about how foundations may be the reason why this scam went undetected for so long (another reason why the 5% payout is hurting nonprofits). There was finally some happy news on the Madoff front. MoveOn.org sent an email to their membership base asking them to support organizations that have been hurt by the scandal. It is too rare that we see a nonprofit organization stepping up and fundraising for other organizations that have been hurt by unusual circumstances. I hope this kind of quick action becomes more common. From MoveOn:

Dear MoveOn member,
You've probably heard about how Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff scammed investors out of at least $50 billion.

But you may not have heard that his victims included the foundations that support some really important progressive organizations. Groups that fight for human rights, fair elections and racial justice are getting hit hard—just in time for the holidays. We've worked side-by-side with many of them.

If these groups can't replace the funding that came from investment accounts that Madoff stole, they may be forced to start cutting important projects or, in some cases, even lay off staff.

Can you pitch in $25 or $50 for each of the four organizations we're highlighting below? If a few thousand of us give together, it can make an enormous difference—and help repair some of the damage Madoff has done. Click here to contribute:

https://civ.moveon.org/donatec4/dec_2008.html?id=15300-14478492-oJNBYIx&t=3

Your gift will be tax-deductible as if you had made the gift directly to the designated charities; we will forward 100% of your contribution to the organizations you select.

Many organizations have been hit by this crisis. We're highlighting the four that MoveOn has worked closely with over the last few years. Here's a bit about each of the groups:

The Brennan Center for Justice is a nonpartisan institute that focuses on fundamental issues of democracy and justice. Their work ranges from voting rights to redistricting reform to checking presidential power in the fight against terrorism. MoveOn has worked with the Brennan Center closely in the fight for fair elections. Chip in to help them out here.

Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, they give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Its rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. MoveOn has worked with Human Rights Watch on campaigns to preserve the constitution and protect human rights in America and abroad. Chip in to help them out here.

Advancement Project is a policy, communications and legal action group committed to racial justice founded by a team of veteran civil rights lawyers in 1998. They have pursued critical litigation to protect voters and also support grassroots movements for universal opportunity and just democracy in the areas of education and immigrants' rights. MoveOn has worked with Advancement Project to stop vote suppression, especially among minority folks. Chip in to help them out here.

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a nonprofit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change. MoveOn has worked with CCR to hold President Bush accountable for his unconstitutional acts, from illegal wiretaps to Guantanamo. Chip in to help them out here.

2008 has been an extraordinary year. Together, MoveOn's 5 million members have done so much—and we have a new president and new hope to show for it. But we wouldn't be where we are as a country without a strong movement of interconnected progressive organizations. Let's come together one last time to keep that movement going strong.

Thanks for all you do.
–Eli, Carrie, Ilyse and the entire MoveOn.org Civic Action team

2009 Resolutions for Foundations


Here are the 5 things I would like to see foundations do in 2009:

Unrestrict grants that you have already given to nonprofits for project-specific activities so that they are able to make mission driven choices about their activities in 2009. Too many nonprofits can't make good decisions about what programs to keep, expand, or scale back during tough economic times because they have specific funding tied to those programs. Unrestrict those grants to make sure that organizations can focus on core programs.

Use 5% as a guideline, not a rule. When times are tough be there for the organizations that you financially support, even if it means that you are spending over 5%. Foundations do not exists to make sure that they continue to exists. Their donors got a tax break to have a positive impact on our communities.

Collaborate with other foundations to achieve impact. This is not a time for us to go at this alone. Turf battles are so 2008, so find some foundations with a common vision and figure out how you can coordinate your funding for maximum impact.

Think about your non-financial resources that would be useful to your nonprofit partners. Things like lobbyists, communications expertise, space, or information. Find new ways to get these resources to nonprofits.

Release your staff from the 9 to 5. I've never been a fan of arbitrary time schedules that don't match employee or community needs. Now is the time to figure out how to realign your foundation to measure results and not just hours clocked.

They say people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. As a new foundation head, I'm working on implementing all of these ideas in my foundation. It isn't easy, but it's necessary.

What other things would you like to see foundations implement in 2009?