Equity leadership in philanthropy
he Top 50 Funders Project aims to measure and track whether foundations issuing grants in Canada are considering and embedding equity into their strategies and operations. In part, this ranking is seeking to address some of the more problematic aspects of traditional philanthropy. Philanthropy has its roots in a combination of the two Greek words philos (loving) and anthropos (humankind), so it is literally about love for humankind. Despite this, modern philanthropy, especially in North America, has had issues of inequity, white saviorism and other problematic practices for a long time. For example, donor-centrism - where the people giving the money are centered - has been identified as an issue. There is broad agreement over some of the tenets of donor centrism, such as not treating donors like ATMs, and that foundations should build relationships and appreciate the giving. This makes sense. However, centering the wishes of (mostly white and wealthy) donors over the organizations that receive the money and the people who are the recipients of charity is the clearest example of centering privilege and marginalising everyone else. Others who are experts in this field have articulated the issues about donor centrism and inequality ad nauseam.
Not all is doom and gloom though. New and emerging practices such as trust based philanthropy and participatory grantmaking are two examples of how grant making foundations can move into a new era of charity that involves those that are recipients of charity, not just those who are donors.
Trust based philanthropy (TBP) is based on 6 principles: the provision of multi-year, unrestricted funding, doing the homework (grantmakers), simplifying and streamlining paperwork, being transparent and responsive, soliciting and acting on feedback, and offering support beyond the cheque. QuakeLab’s methodology for the Top 50 Equitable Funders Project reflected many of these ideas within our metrics and KPIs. We were particularly keen to see where funders were operating with that focus of trust rather than operating from a mindset that they were getting scammed. There’s an inherent power imbalance between grantmaking foundations and those in receipt of those grants and trust based philanthropy doesn’t undo this power dynamic in its entirety. However, as we outlined in our deep dive, the entire point of charity is to have money flow through to communities, predominantly to assist with the alleviation of poverty. Trust based philanthropy has been particularly good for BIPOC led organizations. Because TBP priotitizes relationship building between funders and grantees, and seeks to address the inherent power imbalance between the two, it allows organizations that have traditionally had a good understanding of their local community need, but not necessarily a formal way of capturing that information, a way to express that to their funders by opening the lines of communication. While traditional philanthropic practices also often see funders directing how resources should be used, TBP emphasises the importance of community insight into what is most needed, multi-year funding and mentorship to allow organizations to build capacity, address the need and create a healthier, more equitable system.
The Circle for Philanthropy is a Canadian example of an evolution in philanthropy, centered around Indigenous wisdom. Its aim is to contribute to positive change with Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led organizations have membership in perpetuity; philanthropic organizations have to renew every year. The broad principles that ground the Circle are those of abundance, reciprocity, accountability and curiosity and the yearly cycle that is based in the seasons. For example, the ‘One Days Pay’ campaign is a partnership between the Circle and Indigenous organizations to commemorate National Day for Truth and Reconciliation beyond reflection.
The need for Indigenous voices in philanthropy is more critical than ever. A recent study done by the International Funders for Indigenous People in conjunction with Archipel Research and Consulting indicated that globally, only 1.4% of the $28.5 billion dollars in grants to support women and girls went to organizations supporting Indigenous women between 2016 to 2020. An even smaller subset of that money went to Indigenous-led organizations. And most of the money was project based, without providing the ongoing support so desperately needed by those grassroots organizations.
The ongoing infantalization of marginalized communities continues to hamper efforts by small organizations to get things done for their communities. The core of this is a fundamental disbelief some funders have that communities actually have the solutions to their problems. This is where another idea, such as participatory grantmaking comes into play. Participatory grantmaking cedes decision making power about funding to the community. It raises the community up by giving them agency to make decisions. Our partners in this project, Future of Good, had a series about participatory grantmaking that highlighted how it works in practice with the WES Mariam Assefa Fund in the Peel Region of Ontario. By working together, rather than the top down approach that usually characterized traditional funding, the Tamarack Institute were able to design a grant that allowed local Peel based organizations and nonprofits to apply and provide the money for workforce development and immigrant skills development.
These examples of the changes happening in philanthropy is why QuakeLab is so passionate about the work of the Top 50 Equitable Funders project. QuakeLab’s view, with equity as a technical skill, is that we have to build for a future where how good at your job is going to also encompass how well you embed equity into your work. This project is a way to mark and measure how all the foundations are doing this, focusing on how they grant, how they make those decisions within our methodology.
If you’re interested in working with us to embed equity in your funding practices, we’re very happy to work with you. Please get in touch!
