Nonprofit Adviser

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My colleague Jim Rendon took a close look at a new guide created by the research organization Candid, which was compiled from interviews with 30 foundations and leaders in the field, to identify concrete ways grant makers can support grassroots groups and get scarce dollars to do more.

Although the guide focuses on those working to curb climate change, its ideas encourage all grant makers to support smaller community groups, which often are closest to problems that need solutions, and to do a better job of reaching nonprofits led by people of color. The guide suggests that grant makers:

Seek out overlooked nonprofits. Julie Broome, director of Ariadne, a network of Europe human-rights grant makers and an adviser for the report, told Jim that grant makers, especially those working on climate change, must examine our societies and systems and do some restructuring to become more equitable, reduce the impact on the planet, and help marginalized communities.

Learn from organizations already supporting grassroots groups. For example, re-granting groups like the Solutions Project and the Hive Fund can help large foundations distribute money faster than if they had to develop internal expertise “to understand whom to fund and how to work effectively with small groups.” Partnering and building networks can help money flow faster to those most in need.

Take an integrated view of complex problems. For example, climate change affects health, education, economic growth, immigration, and many other issues, and grant makers can innovate by supporting nonprofits that specialize in those areas. Big issues cut across many program areas, notes Janet Camarena, senior director of learning experience at Candid, who edited the guide. Nonprofits seeking grants should also keep this approach in mind because it may be possible to tie their work to larger issues.

The guide also names some benefits foundations may see from rethinking who gets grants and how. These include:

• Pushing grant makers to develop systems for better listening to their grantees and getting to know the communities where they make grants, says Marion Gee, co-executive director of the Climate Justice Alliance.
  
• Implementing solutions that come from community members, which builds popular support for changes among people in communities.
  
• Increasing trust between foundations and previously overlooked communities to reduce disparities and the tendency of big environmental grant makers to fund large, white-led environmental groups.

To learn more about climate change grant making, read Jim’s special report on the billions of dollars donors are directing toward solutions. And learn about the ClimateWorks Foundation’s efforts to innovate as demand for relief from rising temperatures swells across the globe.

To dig deeper into new approaches to grant making, read this collection of opinion and how-to articles:

• Foundation Demands for Expensive Reporting From Grantees Means Long-Neglected Groups Are Still Left Out
• Sharing Philanthropic Power With Grantees Is Messy and Challenging but Worth the Effort
• Grant Makers Can Advance Equity by Revealing ‘Invisible’ Communities
• General Operating Support Is Vital to Advancing Equity, Strengthening Nonprofits, Say Leaders
• Companies Should Make Their Philanthropy More Racially Equitable. Here’s How.
• Grant Makers, Here Are 4 Ways to Demonstrate Respect and Empathy to Grantees
• Young Organizers Are Taking On the Greatest Challenges of Our Time. Donors Need to Take Notice

Be well,
Dan Parks
Senior Editor, Digital and Data

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