Giving Compass' Take:

• Candid and CENTRIS published a report surveying more than eight hundred nongovernmental or civil society organizations, foundations, and other funders about their peacebuilding efforts. 

• A small amount of philanthropy is involved in peacebuilding and peacemaking initiatives. What might be some underlying reasons for this? 

• Read about the case for funding peacebuilding. 

Despite their commitment to building resilient and stable societies, philanthropic organizations are often reluctant to fund peacebuilding efforts, a report from Candid finds.

Funded by PeaceNexus and based on a survey of more than eight hundred nongovernmental or civil society organizations, foundations, and other funders conducted by Candid and CENTRIS, the report, Philanthropy for a safe, healthy, and just world (48 pages, PDF), found that 30.8 percent of respondents said their organization worked in an area impacted by war or violent conflict, 18.2 percent cited peace as an issue area in which their organization worked, and 18.4 percent rated conflict resolution and peacebuilding as an element of social change that is "very important" to their work.

When asked about the three major categories of peace and security-related grantmaking, more than half said supporting resilient and stable societies — through, for example, support for democratic institutions, rule of law, climate security, and gender equality — was central to (30.9 percent) or not central but important to (26 percent) their work. Much smaller shares said the same of preventing or mitigating conflict (11.4 percent and 18 percent) — including countering violent extremism, preventing atrocities, boosting cybersecurity, combating gender-based violence, and reducing militarism — and of resolving conflict or building peace through peace negotiations, transitional justice, support for victims, and demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration initiatives (9.4 percent and 12.6 percent).

Data previously compiled by the Peace and Security Funders Group and Candid have shown that less than 1 percent of philanthropic funding supports peace and security initiatives and less than that is specifically focused on peacebuilding.

The survey also found that reasons for not engaging in peacebuilding included perceptions that it's too political (43.2 percent), there's not enough evidence for what works (24.3 percent), it's too difficult to measure (24.3 percent), and it's for government and official donors, not for private foundations or civil society (18.3 percent).

Read the full article about survey shows philanthropy is not engaged in peacebuilding at Philanthropy News Digest.