Giving projects: centering people of colour as donors and fundraisers

Giving Projects, a donor organizing model for social justice philanthropy, have moved $4 million from over 6,000 donors in the last five years. They engage people of colour as fundraisers and donors in profound ways not seen in the broader philanthropic sector. Why has this model been so successful to date in capturing the attention, passion and resources of people of colour? What are these foundations doing right, and what might the rest of the field be able to glean from our experience? And because the Giving Project is explicit in naming and addressing dynamics around race and class, how might that impact donors of colour and their giving?

Thanks to a grant from the GFCF, I interviewed 43 past Giving Project participants of colour across the United States. Three themes emerged about these donors: they are deeply affected by the curriculum around race, class and money; they aren’t comfortable using the term “philanthropist” to describe their role in the community; and, they are an underutilized resource when it comes to raising money for social movements.

Discussing race, class and money

Having focused and facilitated conversations about race and class with other people of colour was crucial to developing a shared social justice vision across racial and ethnic lines. Many participants reported they had never been in spaces where race was discussed exclusively among people of colour as it is during the caucus sessions of the Giving Project. Most participants identified the content around class as being unexplored territory, and connecting their race and their class to their social identity was new work. Grappling with issues of identity through important group conversations led to successful fundraising conversations with individual donors.

Donor organizers, not philanthropists

Of the 43 people interviewed for this project, most did not self-identify with the term “philanthropist” after participating in a Giving Project, even though all reported making a financial contribution that was meaningful and significant to them. Many gravitated toward the alternative term of “donor organizer”, which has emerged among Giving Project vernacular to describe how participants act as financial resource-gatherers for social justice. In this way, people of colour described what could be key to revitalizing institutional philanthropy – a commitment to both giving and acting on one’s values in community.

NOLOGO Giving Project panel, © Min Enterprises

An underutilized resource

Finally, it became clear that people of colour aren’t being asked enough. In a Giving Project, all participants donate from their own pockets in addition to fundraising from their networks. When participants are asked to consider a meaningful gift to the project, it often results in the largest gift they have every given. Factors that lead to this significant contribution include being inspired to give to multiple organizations at once, and seeing the value and privilege of gaining in-depth knowledge of community work through the grantmaking process. What is most striking is that for many people of colour interviewed for this project, this was the first time they had been asked to give a monetary donation to any organization.

A resounding message to philanthropy

This research exposed important lessons about engaging people of colour as donors and decision-makers in philanthropy. Many people of colour who joined a Giving Project recognized the model as being outside the mainstream of philanthropy and saw potential for community foundations to integrate lessons learned into their fundraising and grantmaking process.

A clear takeaway is that centering people of colour as leaders in the work of a foundation and holding explicit discussions about racial justice were essential to the success of all Giving Projects we studied. People of colour want to give, and they know their communities give, but they need to be positioned to lead the work for it to succeed. I believe this quote from a former Giving Project participant says it best:

“There is work to be done on how we define centering folks of colour within philanthropy, because it’s less about getting folks of colour to fit into the model philanthropy, than getting philanthropy to fit into the model of how folks of colour are already doing community giving.” – Social Justice Fund NW participant

By: Allison Johnson Heist, Program Officer, Headwaters Foundation for Justice

Download the report “Giving projects: cultivating people of color as fundraisers and donors”