Fundraisers for Economic Justice See Challenges and Opportunities in a Historic Moment
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Homeless encampment in Los Angeles. Philip Pilosian/shutterstock
Organizations working toward economic justice are finding their work has taken center stage, as the pandemic exacerbated and exposed deep financial insecurity among many Americans, and as concerns over income inequality, racial injustice and our frayed social safety net loom larger than they have in years. At the same time, funders and nonprofits alike are increasingly aware of just how complex and intersectional these issues are.
For fundraisers in the field that we spoke with, these developments have ushered in new opportunities, as donors and foundations are more aware of the problems at hand, and in some cases, more open to stepping out of their comfort zones. It’s also introduced new challenges, as nonprofits work to educate funders about the scope of the solutions needed, and the interconnectedness of economic justice with many other causes.
While each organization we spoke with occupies a unique space and faces specific challenges surrounding economic systems change, fundraisers described their financial backers as contending with a particularly heavy moment, often mentioning that the pandemic heightened existing hardships lower-income people were already experiencing long beforehand, such as access to healthcare, food, education and housing. They also expressed the necessity to recognize the direct link between systemic racism and wealth disparity.
Some of the strategies fundraisers are leaning on include leveraging stories from the pandemic to fund movement-building, diversifying fundraising streams, pointing out shared goals across issue areas, and harnessing public, in addition to private, funding.
Addressing the link between economic and racial justice
Mirroring national trends, and trends in other areas of philanthropy, fundraisers working on economic justice find themselves centering systemic racism in their work more than ever.
Jennifer Broome, vice president of philanthropy at Prosperity Now, described a distinct organizational shift from treating racial justice as a programmatic branch to centering historically marginalized people in the fabric of all their work. While related to current events, it actually began under the leadership of CEO Gary Cunningham when he joined the team in 2019.
“Since 1979, we’ve always been focused on creating an economic system that allows low- to moderate-income people to have stability and mobility. Over the course of time, it became clear that without a focus on economic justice, and specifically addressing racial inequities, that we were never going to solve the larger issue of lower- to moderate-income people,” Broome said.
As Prosperity Now is applying a racial equity lens to all facets of the organization, they are engaging corporate and foundation funders in that process. “We’ve seen some real interest from funders to engage in racial equity issues and what’s driving those issues,” she said. ”Since the murder of George Floyd and the spotlight on police brutality against Black and brown people, this has highlighted systemic injustice in our society, and part of that (arguably one of the cornerstones that keeps that in place) is our inequitable economic system.”
As such, Broome and her team are speaking openly with funders, being candid that the economic system is working as it was designed to, and as a result, is an exclusionary system that we must re-envision to create an economy that can benefit everyone.
Another common theme in fundraising conversations is the idea that the pandemic disproportionately impacted marginalized people, opening the eyes of many to the interconnectedness of the economy and race. This came up in conversations with Benefits Data Trust (BDT), Americans for Financial Reform, and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).
“In almost every donor call, grant report and funding proposal we have written in the last two years, we have pointed out that the health and economic crises brought about by the pandemic exacerbated and shined a light on the existing inequities in this country,” said Sharon Parrott, president of CBPP. The organization supports policy tools that raise revenues from high-income, high-wealth people and profitable corporations in order to improve well-being and expand opportunity. “Much of our work is building the case for why creating more robust and equitable tax systems then investing in people and communities is a win-win strategy for the nation — a strategy that the nation can ill afford not to pursue.”
Trooper Sanders, CEO of Benefits Data Trust, pointed out that when making the case for funding, outcomes are most important, and the outcomes funders care about often overlap several philanthropic categories, including economic justice and racial equity. BDT is a national nonprofit that works to improve access to benefits and services.
Sanders posed the example of investing in education for girls of color as a way to improve economic opportunity and thereby break the cycle of racial inequality and poverty. At the same time, support from a grandparent could play a large role in a young girl’s education, meaning that funders interested in the health and wellbeing of older populations have a role to play in that outcome. “How you brand that doesn’t really matter, it’s more about what is the impact of the dollars, and are you handling it in ways that lead to smart outcomes.”
Meeting the moment
This blurring of the lines between race, the economy, health, caregiving and more is part of the broader socio-political moment, and the philanthropy community is reckoning with its complexity. In addition to putting a fine point on the need to address racial inequity as part of the conversation, the fundraisers we spoke with commented on this complexity at large.
As concern sharpens around the pandemic-fueled recession, rising interest rates and inflation, Jennifer Broome from Prosperity Now mentioned lessons learned from her long career as a fundraiser. “I’ve always heard discussions about needing to pull back on fundraising and making philanthropic investments in challenging times. A lesson to pull from past recessions is that philanthropists who doubled down and continued making investments secured gains much more quickly than those who chose to slow down their efforts.”
Sanders from BDT pointed out that philanthropists and funders seem to be taking a long-term view of the many intersecting challenges they face. “I think there has been a searching, a pushing, a challenging within philanthropy that’s essentially asking, what are we doing? And to what end? And does the sum total of what we’re doing meet the moment for the next few decades?” Sanders said.“So I think that has meant in some cases a greater interest in stepping out of comfort zones and considering issue areas that may not have been considered before, or considering ways of putting money and resources to work that may not have been the case before.”
Still, the close intersection of these progressive issues is something that funders must be aware of, said Prescott at CBPP. “All of these debates are fights about power and all of them have enormous implications for who has the resources they need to thrive — healthcare, good schools, job opportunities, and affordable housing — and who systematically gets left behind.”
She specified that not every group must engage in every issue or embrace a single strategy, but “understanding how these issues intersect is important for all of the groups doing the work to design and advance policies, build coalitions, engage communities in these debates, and mount winning campaigns. A key task moving forward for us is helping funders and donors better understand how the various issues and debates intersect and how they can play an important role in ensuring that the full ecosystem is resourced across individual policy areas.”
Some fundraisers do worry about changing priorities from funders, especially foundations, which tend to be more siloed in terms of interest areas. In contrast, BDT was one of many organizations to receive a windfall from MacKenzie Scott, a $20 million unrestricted grant announced in March. ”To what extent is there an efficacy gap between broad-based, largely unrestricted philanthropy that does its due diligence, identifies organizations, and lets them get on with it, in contrast with some of the more narrowly cast philanthropy?” posed Sanders.
The need for general operating support is an issue Broome referred to as a perennial one in philanthropy that remains important for organizations across the board. In thinking about shifting perspectives from funders, Broome spoke to the fact that many foundations are the systemic beneficiaries of historic structures that are now being reckoned with. She cited the Ford Foundation as an example of a philanthropy focusing on equity, seeking to reconcile where this institution came from and the world the foundation is working toward. “I feel like there is a willingness now [from funders in general] to do that work that is really refreshing and a little bit new in the last decade.”
Cash flow
One area of funding that’s seen a surge in interest in recent years is the practice of giving cash to people in need. That includes direct giving, in which individuals experiencing poverty receive relatively small amounts, but we’ve also seen a lot of traction around guaranteed or basic income.
Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI), a network of 85 mayors across the nation, is an initiative that’s caught the eye of some big donors, including Jack Dorsey’s Start Small Project. Executive Director Sukhi Samra said they see guaranteed income as a tool for racial and gender equity, and that as we wrestle with the pandemic and rising inflation rates, it is a good time to reimagine the social safety net. MGI has been particularly successful administering guaranteed income pilot programs funded by private donors.
“People were wanting to provide direct cash release seeing the amount of suffering and the way in which the pandemic disproportionately impacted Black and brown folks and essential workers,” Samra said.
MGI experienced a shift in funding during the pandemic, as funders previously more open to backing research and storytelling work became much more interested in paying direct disbursements to get cash in people’s pockets. While MGI will continue with more pilot programs, Samra describes their next phase as getting back to more movement-building and policy work. By leveraging stories from pilots, MGI will focus on the hearts and minds work that gets at larger policy, including raising more 501(c)(4) funds.
Broome at Prosperity Now also said her team is also looking to diversify revenue streams in a few ways. Before 2016, a third of the group’s revenue was funded through government grants. Those have since dried up and the organization is building back government revenue. On the corporate side, they’re trying to diversify within the corporate sector in order to broaden the scope of industries represented, such as real estate and manufacturing partners. “We are building a bigger table to make sure there’s a place for everyone to play a role,” Broome said.
They’re also adding an individual giving program, which is relatively new to the organization. Not only will this allow for more unrestricted funds, but the opportunity to build a movement that draws in people who share dedication to their cause.
”Making sure we have people who are committed to joining that mission is a larger, more important element to the work than just the fundraising element — making sure at some point, we will achieve this mission.”
Corrections: The president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is Sharon Parrott. The CEO of Benefits Data Trust is Trooper Sanders.
