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Five Ways Donors Can Act Now For a More Just Post-Pandemic World

Social Venture Partners International Apr 15, 2020
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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Five Ways Donors Can Act Now For a More Just World Post-Pandemic Giving Compass
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COVID-19 is already defining our world — economically, culturally, and politically — and how we connect to each other. It calls into question all that we have practiced and opens up possibilities for the future.

From my vantage point of leading SVP International, the world’s largest network of engaged philanthropists, I believe individuals — especially through their giving — can right now strengthen communities and reimagine systems for a more just world.

Here’s where you can start:

1) Assess and align: Examine how you practice philanthropy. How much of your wealth goes to efforts led by and for those most impacted by unjust systems? Are you giving outside of your normal networks? Because individual donors offer some of the most flexible resources, consider how you can maximize your impact by putting it to work in places others are less likely to invest. We know that “women of color are the M.V.Ps. of social change” —  leading community scale innovations that transform our movements — yet they struggle to get the same level of easy, general operating support afforded to many large organizations.

2) Write a check and connect: This moment calls for long-term commitment – do make the response-fund gift, but also join a network like Social Venture Partners, Social Justice Fund NW – or your local Giving Project, Resource Generation, and/or Donors of Color Network.

Networks help to transform your philanthropy so you can better connect to movement building and ensure your resources support on-the-ground leadership and expertise. They create space for you to be in communities of shared accountability, identify your blind spots, and bring a holistic approach to your giving.

Social change movements need more philanthropists who understand the whole system but this is a hard view to get without help. By aggregating your philanthropy, and being an engaged donor who organizes other people with wealth to share power, you will catalyze greater impact and change.

3) Practice political solidarity: For many, the ways in which we earn money, or the communities our wealth gives us access to, have also given us something else: power and influence. As state and national advocacy landscapes shift in the coming months, donors need to be in deep relationships with communities, advocating alongside those who are pushing for equitable solutions.

We also must engage corporations, large institutions, foundations, and each other to ensure solutions that push power outwards rather than concentrate wealth in the hands of the few. If you are not already using your voice to urge changes to the incredible economic injustices in our world, it’s time to start.

4) Protect free press and support culture makers: In the U.S. and abroad, this moment is fertile ground for the rise of authoritarianism – and undermining trust in institutions including local government and media. Systemic vulnerabilities and white supremacy are on display — even magnified — now. In the coming months there will be a push to “go back to normal” and minimize what we are seeing.

Philanthropists have a critical role to play in protecting our democracy by resourcing free, independent journalism to continue documenting and sharing stories of current impacts. You can subscribe to your local newspaper or public radio or look to entities like the American Journalism Project to help you have the most impact.

We also need to support cultural workers — writers, filmmakers, photographers, artists — who dream from the margins and bring into life the emerging future. Your investment in this culture change now will seed transformation for the long term.

5) Shift resources upstream: The current inequities are no surprise to those living with the daily challenges of our system. Those who were already vulnerable are even more so now. Going upstream brings a system change focus so movements can address root causes. This work includes shifting public narratives, policy advocacy, increasing racial and social equity practices, strengthening democracy, and powerbuilding across communities, to name a few.

Systemic approaches address current and historic inequities and increase community resilience. But because these approaches are less immediately tangible, they struggle to get sufficient funding. Moving your giving to systemic interventions has a multiplier effect, catalyzing impact for long-term benefits.

It has never been more urgent to join together to ask what is possible now that was not possible before, and to imagine what needs to be in place for a new future – one where we have globally connected communities, increased democratic practices, healthy environments, and more systems that support the authentic leadership of people currently impacted by unjust systems and oppression. For those with wealth, we must act now to use our money, influence, and power, in solidarity with those on the frontlines, and hasten the creation of a world where all communities thrive.

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By Sudha Nandagopal, CEO of Social Venture Partners International, a network of over 3,500 engaged philanthropists, volunteers, and social change leaders, working in partnership with communities in eight countries around the globe.

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Interested in learning more about Philanthropy? Other readers at Giving Compass found the following articles helpful for impact giving related to Philanthropy.

  • This is a Giving Compass SelectionThis article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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    Focusing on Outcomes, Not Overhead

    The announcement from the leaders of charity watchdogs—GuideStar, Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, and Charity Navigator—made waves when it denounced the use of overhead ratio as a valid indicator of nonprofit performance. The CEOs write: The percent of charity expenses that go to administrative and fundraising costs—commonly referred to as ‘overhead’—is a poor measure of a charity’s performance. We ask you to pay attention to other factors of nonprofit performance: transparency, governance, leadership, and results.” Want to read more on nonprofits? Visit this selection on Giving Compass. What do good outcomes cost? The for-profit world does not measure success by focusing on overhead, but if it did (by looking at sales, general and administrative costs as a percent of total sales), the average rate would be 25 percent. Intuitively, we’d expect that a high-performing nonprofit would hire the best people, train them to be effective, and monitor results to improve as it went along. That involves HR, training, and performance measurement. Overhead, overhead, overhead. No matter what your funding philosophy, there are a handful of steps any funder can take to move toward a better understanding of what good outcomes really cost. Move away from arbitrary funding limits on nonprofit overhead. It is shocking how many funders anchor on 10 percent for overhead as a supposed “best practice” rather than on what grantees need to deliver great results. By all means discuss what you are willing to pay for, but encourage grantees to ask for what they really need and justify their request; you may be surprised by what you hear. Reduce demands that drive up grantee costs. Due diligence and grant reporting add extra costs for grantees. Consider a due diligence process appropriate to the level of investment. Multiple site visits and data requests may be overkill for a $10,000 grant. This due diligence tool can help. Once a grant is made, commit to funding grantees’ reporting costs. There is work to do here: A 2011 survey by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations found that only 24 percent of foundations “often or always” included appropriate overhead to cover time grantees spent reporting on the grant. Develop a deeper understanding of “full costs.” What are programmatic costs? What goes into overhead? Both funders and nonprofits realize that the answers may not be obvious. In a recent survey conducted with Donors Forum of about 250 nonprofit leaders and 100 funders, both groups listed “tools to help analyze and understand full costs” as the most important resource for improving their overhead practices and policies. Read the source article at The Bridgespan Group Like this article? Check out this piece on the leadership development deficit in nonprofits.


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