Philanthropy and Racial Equity/Racial Justice Resources

Building on a Better Foundation: A Toolkit for Creating an Inclusive Grantmaking Organization, by the Donors Forum of Chicago, the Minnesota Council on Foundations, Northern California Grantmakers and the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers, presents a framework for incorporating inclusiveness and diversity into the structure and operations of grantmaking organizations.

Changing Communities Changing Foundations: The Story of the Diversity Efforts of Twenty Community Foundations, by Rainbow Research, highlights promising practices among community foundations in responding internally and externally to meet the needs of communities of color.

This links to three publications by the Association for the Study and Development of Community, documenting findings of the Community Foundation/Intergroup Relations Program, which was a partnership between the C.S. Mott and Ford Foundations and six community foundations. The publications provide tools that funders can use when reviewing grant proposals for strengthening intergroup relations between recent immigrants and long-time residents; principles to be considered by groups working in such coalitions; and key lessons learned from the multiyear initiative.

Crossing Boundaries, Connecting Communities: Alliance Building for Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice is a report by the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), which includes detailed case studies of organizations that are forging effective cross racial alliances between immigrant and native-born communities in order to build power and win just policies and practices in their regions.

Cultures of Caring: Philanthropy in Diverse American Communities, by JoAnne Scanlan, with Mary Frances Winters, Mindy L. Barry, Jessica Chao, and Henry J. Ramos, examines potential ways to expand the use of institutional philanthropy in African-American, Asian-American, Latino and Native American communities.

Diversity in Action: Strategies with Impact by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors is the third in a series of publications highlighting voluntary efforts in diversity and inclusion within the foundation community. The publication includes real-life examples of successful strategies that foundations have implemented to become more inclusive.

Embracing Diversity; Foundation Giving Benefiting California Communities of Color by the Foundation Center is an analysis of grantmaking to communities of color by 50 of California’s largest independent foundations.

From The Roots offers stories from the field of racial justice as well as insights into how the Akonadi Foundation applies a structural racism lens in its grant making and communications. Stories in the report suggest ways to define grassroots-led progress on structural racism.

Improving Race Relations and Undoing Racism: Roles and Strategies for Community Foundations, by Rainbow Research, shares findings from a two-year learning project, engaging more than 110 community foundation representatives, to document and strengthen the foundations’ efforts to improve race relations and undo racism in their communities.

Leading by Example: Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in Community Foundations, by California Tomorrow, is a toolkit for community foundations concerned about diversity, inclusion, and racial equity. The project, funded by the C. S. Mott Foundation, was a joint venture with the Coalition of Community Foundations for Youth, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the East Bay Community Foundation, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and the Winston-Salem Foundation.

Racial Equity Online Toolkit from Funders for LGBTQ Issues provides a range of grantmaking tools, commentaries and best practices to support grantmakers in implementing an LGBTQ racial equity lens into their grantmaking and internal operations.

Short Changed: Foundation Giving and Communities of Color, by the Applied Research Center, is a study of the levels and ways that foundations have been providing support for racial justice work and efforts in communities of color, particularly noting that such giving has been proportionately decreasing in recent years.

The Meaning and Impact of Board and Staff Diversity in the Philanthropic Field: Findings from a National Study is a Joint Affinity Groups (JAG) study that offers practical recommendations for foundations looking to address the growing diversity of the communities they serve.

The Questions Hold the Answers by Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues is an overview of FLGI’s Racial Equity Campaign, a multi-year initiative to create healthy grantmaking institutions that embody fairness and inclusiveness and support the leadership of LGBTQ people of color and their organizations.

Walking the Walk: Principles for Building Community Capacity for Equity and Diversity, by Hedy Nai-Lin Chang, Ted Scott Femenella, Nguyen Louie, Benjamin Murdock and Elena Pell, describes nine principles designed to help people individually and collectively build community capacity to promote equity and diversity.

Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity © All rights reserved