National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy



Power Moves: Your essential philanthropy assessment guide for equity and justice and Webinars

FavoriteThis complete assessment guide for equity and justice will help determine how well you are building, sharing, and wielding power, and identify ways to transform your programs and operations for lasting, equitable impact. The self-assessment toolkit includes ready-to-use guides, insightful anecdotes, and comprehensive resources to help you on your power journey towards high-impact giving. On-demand webinar recordings Free recordings from the latest 2 Power Moves webinars Grantmaking at the Grassroots: Building power for equitable systems change — Take a deeper dive into the why’s and how’s of building power effectively for maximum impact. Featuring: Daniel Lee, Levi Strauss Foundation Alejandra L. Ibañez, Read more





As the South Grows

FavoriteIn its As the South Grows series of reports, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) and its partner Grantmakers for Southern Progress (GSP) have begun exploring the challenges and opportunities to increase equity in Southern communities. Foundations, as the data and others’ lived experience demonstrates, have for too long neglected funding the most promising structural change strategies in the South. As the South Grows is an attempt to examine the reasons for that neglect and to propose solutions.  









Moving Philanthropy from the Margins to the Center

FavoriteMoving philanthropy from the margins to the center of scholarly inquiry permits a task at the heart of any inquiry about democracy: understanding the complex division between what is public and what is private, tracing the evolution of that division over time, identifying the public dimensions of private wealth and power, and recognizing when private action supports or, alternatively, threatens the public interest.  





Pennies for Progress

FavoriteThis report follows the success of foundations during the great recession in 2008. The study found that in the decade that ended in 2013, foundation support for America’s marginalized communities grew just 5 percent as a share of all grantmaking. All this raises the question: Where did the increase in foundation grantmaking – over $6 billion – go if not to benefit the poor, communities of color, immigrants, women and girls, and other underserved communities? Where did that $6 billion go if not to strategies that affect long-term change?











Cultivating the Grassroots: A Winning Approach for Environment and Climate Funders

FavoriteThis report argues that more money needs to go towards grassroots organizing and advocacy for the environment and climate change movements to regain momentum and win important legislative and regulatory battles. Environment and climate funders can become effective resources of a strong and successful movement for change by decreasing their reliance on national advocacy groups and increasing funding for grassroots communities that are directly impacted by environmental harms.





Freedom Funders: Philanthropy and the Civil Rights Movement

FavoriteThis resource includes three approaches that today’s foundations can learn from the Freedom Funders in our ongoing fight to protect civil rights: Grantmakers should intentionally prioritize underserved communities in developing and implementing strategy. They should involve those most affected by injustice, such as by funding organizations committed to grassroots organizing and advocacy. They should utilize tools such as equity analysis to examine structural barriers that keep certain communities from equal life opportunities. Anything less and foundations risk reinforcing the very inequities they claim to address.





Strengthening Democracy, Increasing Opportunities: Impacts of Advocacy, Organizing and Civic Engagement in the Gulf/Midsouth Region

FavoriteThis report looks at how 20 nonprofits in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi and their allies helped improved their communities and amplified the voices of underserved residents in the democratic process through policy engagement. These nonprofits leveraged foundation grants that generated a $114 return for every dollar spent.





Fusing Arts, Culture and Social Change

FavoriteThis report outlines compelling demographic, aesthetic and economic reasons for foundations to rethink their grantmaking practices to stay current with changes in the cultural sector and to continue to be relevant to the evolving needs of our communities. Regardless of its history or primary philanthropic focus, every foundation investing in the arts can make fairness and equity core principles of its grantmaking.