Giving Compass' Take:

• Paul Engler argues that funding protest movements needs to be a higher priority for foundations and individuals trying to make an impact on a social issue.

• Why are protest movements underfunded? How can philanthropy best support protest movements?

• Learn about successful social movements. 

Among the most iconic images of the civil rights movement is that of police officers unleashing fire hoses and dogs on black children in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama. That spring, in 1963, families throughout the United States huddled around their televisions, watching in horror as racism in the segregated South was exposed in its most visceral and violent form.

Did this dramatic conflict occur by chance—emerging simply from the zeitgeist of the time? Was the subsequent passage of the Civil Rights Act merely the work of politicians in Washington? Hardly. The protests in Birmingham were part of a carefully crafted mobilization, and their impact was far-reaching. Moreover, they are emblematic of how protest movements can break out quickly (often to the surprise of outside observers), alter public consciousness, and affect both our society's social norms and its laws.

Shortly before Birmingham, many political experts considered passing substantive civil rights legislation an impossibility, given conditions in the Senate, which was largely controlled by southern delegations that were strongly pro-segregation. President John F. Kennedy was pragmatically averse to risking support from southern Senators and was reluctant to put forward full support for the cause. Yet suddenly, one month after the campaign in Birmingham made international news, Kennedy delivered a fiery address in support of civil rights. This historic about-face ushered in concrete legislation.

In many places and time periods, we see that mass mobilizations have a profound effect in setting the stage for legal and legislative change. Unfortunately, despite playing a critical role, protest movements are dramatically underfunded. Foundations and large donors are far more likely to focus on the endgame of social transformation—backing the lobbyists and lawyers who formalize the agreements made possible by movement activity. But this approach leaves a huge gap in the social change ecosystem and often makes possible only piecemeal reforms.

Read the full article about funding protests by Paul Engler at Stanford Social Innovation Review.