Download The Philanthropic Landscape: The State of Social Justice Philanthropy

THE PHILANTHROPIC LANDSCAPE
The State of Social Justice Philanthropy
By Niki Jagpal and Kevin Laskowski
Social justice philanthropy¹ increased through the
recent recession, but the share of foundation dollars
reported as supporting advocacy, organizing, civic
engagement and other strategies to promote structural
change remains relatively unchanged.
As part of its ongoing research into current giving
trends, NCRP compared the latest available data on a
sample of 906 large grantmakers’ average giving from
2008–2010 to a previous 2004–2006 sample analyzed
in NCRP’s Criteria for Philanthropy at Its Best.
The findings demonstrate that more grant dollars are
classified as social justice grants and the number of
foundations noting that they provide such funding at a
substantial level increased. The analysis found that:
• The reported amount of social justice philanthropy
increased 66 percent to more than $3 billion.
• The share of grant dollars made as social justice
grants increased slightly from 12 percent to 15
percent of total giving, but when the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation’s giving is excluded, the
share remains unchanged (13 percent).
• Social justice philanthropy decreased as a share
of total giving among community foundations,
operating foundations and foundations in the South.
• The median foundation share for social justice
philanthropy remained 3 percent, but there was
an increase in the number of funders giving at or
above NCRP’s suggested benchmark of 25 percent.
THE CASE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY
In 2009, NCRP’s Criteria for Philanthropy at
Its Best encouraged grantmakers to invest in a
strong, participatory democracy that engages all
communities by providing at least 25 percent of
grant dollars for advocacy, organizing and civic
engagement to promote equity, opportunity and
justice in our society.²
AT A GLANCE
$3B Average annual funding for social
justice from 2008-2010
15% Share of grant dollars made with a
social justice purpose from 2008-2010
8% Average foundation share of giving
coded as social justice philanthropy
3% Median foundation share of giving
coded as social justice philanthropy
Investing in advocacy, community organizing and
civic engagement has the potential to increase and
unite the voices of those who have been historically
marginalized and improve the lives of communities
with the least wealth, opportunity and power. It
is among the most strategic ways to address longstanding structural barriers to equality and advance
social capital and civic engagement:
• It increases available funding for nonprofits working
to effect long-term structural change
• It provides grantmakers with significant impact and
leverage. NCRP’s Grantmaking for Community
Impact Project tracked the activities of 110
nonprofit organizations in 13 states over five years.
The project documented $26.6 billion in benefits
for taxpayers and communities, and found that
every dollar grantmakers and other donors invested
in policy and civic engagement provided a return of
$115 in community benefit.³
• It aligns with philanthropy’s historic role of contributing to a nonprofit sector in which most of
the major social movements and significant policy
changes of the last century arose.
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
• It is the only way for foundations that have changeoriented missions to remain true to their mission and
donor intent.
SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY DECLINED AS A
SHARE OF TOTAL GIVING AMONG COMMUNITY
AND OPERATING FOUNDATIONS
Social justice philanthropy declined as a share
of total giving among sampled community and
operating foundations. Family foundations are
primarily responsible for the overall increase in
social justice grantmaking.
• It is the most direct path to building social capital
and creating sustainable, long-term change for the
most disenfranchised of our community members.
FIGURE 1. SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY BY
FOUNDATION TYPE
2004-2006
Community
7%
9%
9%
10%
Corporate
7%
Family
14%
18%
Independent
12%
All Sampled Grantmakers
SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY DECLINED AS A
SHARE OF TOTAL GIVING IN THE SOUTH
Social justice philanthropy increased in all areas
of the country, especially in the West, though
it declined as a share of total giving among
grantmakers located in the South.
0.08
15%
0.16
2004-2006
0.32
0.40
15%
16%
18%
9%
8%
10%
West
0.00
2008-2010
13%
Midwest
South
17%
0.08
0.16
0.24
0.32
0.40
FIGURE 3. SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY BY
FOUNDATION SIZE
2004-2006
Less than $5 million
Between $5-10 million
0.00
2008-2010
6%
7%
5%
7%
13%
More than $10 million
2
0.24
FIGURE 2. SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY BY
FOUNDATION REGION
Northeast
SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY AS A SHARE
OF TOTAL GIVING INCREASED MOST AMONG
LARGER FUNDERS
The share of grantmaking to empower underserved
communities and contribute to our democracy
increased slightly among foundations of all sizes.
21%
18%
17%
Operating
0.00
2008-2010
16%
0.08
0.16
0.24
0.32
0.40
MOST GRANTMAKERS REPORT LESS THAN 5
PERCENT OF GRANT DOLLARS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
Most sampled grantmakers reported less than 5
percent of their grant dollars for social justicefocused work. However, the share of funders doing
at least some social justice philanthropy and the
number of funders giving at NCRP’s suggested level
of 25 percent increased slightly.
FIGURE 4. HOW MUCH SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY DO
GRANTMAKERS DO?
Zero4
Between 0-5%
Between 5-25%
7%
8%
15%
28%
More than 25%
14%
28%
50%
50%
2004-2006
2008-2010
THE LARGEST SOCIAL JUSTICE GRANTMAKERS
In our latest sample, 76 grantmakers (8 percent of sampled funders) reported giving at least 25 percent of their grant
dollars for social justice purposes from 2008–2010.
TABLE 1. LARGEST SOCIAL JUSTICE FUNDERS BY SHARE OF TOTAL GIVING FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, 2008-2010
SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY (2008-2010)
FOUNDATION NAME
TYPE¹
STATE
AMOUNT
PERCENTAGE
Rosenberg Foundation
IN
CA
$2,041,000
93%
A Glimmer of Hope Foundation
FM
TX
$6,309,044
92%
The Melville Charitable Trust
FM
MA
$4,367,428
84%
Marguerite Casey Foundation
IN
WA
$20,421,521
74%
Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, Inc.
FM
NY
$1,265,167
73%
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
IN
MD
$61,296,383
68%
Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Inc.
FM
NC
$4,629,667
67%
Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
FM
CA
$20,745,278
66%
Public Welfare Foundation, Inc.
IN
DC
$14,142,143
64%
The Gill Foundation
FM
CO
$5,551,616
64%
New York Foundation
IN
NY
$2,339,750
64%
The Weberg Trust
FM
IL
$5,233,333
63%
Opus Prize Foundation
FM
SD
$766,667
63%
Ford Foundation
IN
NY
$288,104,367
62%
The Mitchell Kapor Foundation
FM
CA
$1,296,507
62%
Levi Strauss Foundation
CS
CA
$4,399,167
61%
NIKE Foundation
CS
OR
$9,083,921
59%
The Rockefeller Foundation
IN
NY
$77,986,206
58%
Arcus Foundation
IN
MI
$14,880,863
57%
NoVo Foundation
FM
NY
$14,824,106
57%
The Philanthropic Landscape: The State of Social Justice Philanthropy
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National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
TABLE 1. LARGEST SOCIAL JUSTICE FUNDERS BY SHARE OF TOTAL GIVING FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, 2008-2010 (CONTINUED)
SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY (2008-2010)
FOUNDATION NAME
TYPE¹
STATE
AMOUNT
PERCENTAGE
Open Society Institute
OP
NY
$48,343,810
57%
Moriah Fund
FM
DC
$4,647,434
54%
The California Endowment
IN
CA
$69,566,827
53%
Banyan Tree Foundation
FM
DC
$2,156,110
53%
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
IN
MI
$49,498,107
52%
¹ CS=corporate, FM=family, IN=independent, OP=operating
TABLE 2. LARGEST SOCIAL JUSTICE FUNDERS BY TOTAL AMOUNT, 2008-2010
SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY (2008-2010)
FOUNDATION NAME
TYPE¹
STATE
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
FM
WA
$808,167,861
29%
Ford Foundation
IN
NY
$288,104,367
62%
W. K. Kellogg Foundation
IN
MI
$114,246,972
46%
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
IN
NJ
$98,344,357
29%
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
IN
IL
$95,127,910
47%
The Rockefeller Foundation
IN
NY
$77,986,206
58%
The California Endowment
IN
CA
$69,566,827
53%
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
IN
CA
$67,598,203
17%
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
IN
MD
$61,296,383
68%
The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
FM
NE
$53,176,164
16%
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
IN
MI
$49,498,107
52%
Carnegie Corporation of New York
IN
NY
$48,769,014
44%
Open Society Institute
OP
NY
$48,343,810
57%
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
FM
CA
$35,118,442
13%
Citi Foundation
CS
NY
$30,526,000
42%
The Kresge Foundation
IN
MI
$27,165,339
16%
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Inc.
CS
NC
$27,165,339
17%
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
IN
FL
$25,800,958
29%
Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
FM
CA
$20,745,278
66%
Marguerite Casey Foundation
IN
WA
$20,421,521
74%
The McKnight Foundation
FM
MN
$19,277,165
26%
Howard G. Buffett Foundation
FM
IL
$17,270,806
33%
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
CM
CA
$17,184,376
7%
Omidyar Network Fund, Inc.
FM
CA
$14,916,294
43%
Arcus Foundation
IN
MI
$14,880,863
57%
¹ CM=community, CS=corporate, FM=family, IN=independent, OP=operating
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AMOUNT
PERCENTAGE
METHODOLOGY
NCRP worked with the Foundation Center to develop
custom datasets using the center’s grants sample database, which includes detailed information on all grants
of $10,000 or more awarded to organizations by more
than 1,300 of the largest foundations in the United
States. Grants to individuals are not included in the file.
International grants are included. For community foundations, discretionary grants and donor-advised funds
are included. The Center’s grants classification system
provides much more detail on current giving trends
than other data sources and represents approximately
half of the foundation grantmaking in the United States.
Niki Jagpal is the research and policy director at the
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.
Kevin Laskowski is the research and policy associate at
the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.
The authors would like to extend a special thanks to
Steven Lawrence, director of research at the Foundation
Center, for his review and guidance.
NOTES
1. The Foundation Center defines “social justice philanthropy” as
“the granting of philanthropic contributions to nonprofit organizations based in the United States and other countries that work
These NCRP data are based on three-year averages,
which avoids the influence of potential outliers. The
first sample was developed for Criteria for Philanthropy
at Its Best, using all grantmakers that appeared in all
three annual samples from 2004–2006, a group of 806
large grantmakers. A second sample, a group of 906
funders, was developed using 2008–2010 data to assess
trends in foundation giving four years later.
for structural change in order to increase the opportunity of those
who are the least well off politically, economically, and socially.”
An advisory committee consisting of grantmakers and others created the working definition of social justice philanthropy used by
the Foundation Center. See Tanya E. Coke, Scott Nielsen, Henry
A.J. Ramos, Sherry Seward and Bradford K. Smith, Social Justice
Grantmaking II: An Update on U.S. Foundation Trends, ed. Steven Lawrence (New York: Foundation Center, 2009).
2. Niki Jagpal, Criteria for Philanthropy at Its Best: Benchmarks
Information on social justice giving is based on foundations’ reports of their grants and Foundation Center
criteria for social justice grantmaking. Foundations noted
in the data as giving zero to social justice either did not
have grants that met the criteria for social justice grantmaking or did not provide enough information to code
them as such. NCRP encourages grantmakers to contact
the Foundation Center to ensure appropriate classification of their grants.
to Assess and Enhance Grantmaker Impact (Washington, D.C.:
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, 2009).
3. Lisa Ranghelli, Leveraging Limited Dollars: How Grantmakers
Can Achieve Tangible Results by Funding Policy and Community Engagement (Washington, D.C.: National Committee for
Responsive Philanthropy, 2012).
4. These figures are based on foundations’ reports of their grants
and Foundation Center criteria for social justice grantmaking.
Foundations noted as giving zero dollars for social justice either
did not give social justice grants or did not provide enough in-
For more information, please contact research@
ncrp.org.
formation to code them as such. If all social justice grants could
be appropriately coded, these figures might change.
ABOUT NCRP
The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) aims to ensure that philanthropy contributes
in meaningful ways to the creation of a fair, just and equitable world. We promote philanthropy that serves
the public good, is responsive to people and communities with the least wealth and opportunity, and is held
accountable to the highest standards of integrity and openness.
For more information, please contact us at:
1331 H Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, D.C. 20005
P: 202.387.9177 | F: 202.332.5084 | E-mail: [email protected]
www.ncrp.org | blog.ncrp.org
The Philanthropic Landscape: The State of Social Justice Philanthropy
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