In 2020, I remember being on a regional call with funders in New England who were optimistic that, after months of a global pandemic and a summer of the largest racial uprising this country has seen since the Civil Rights Movement, we were in a new era of philanthropy. I was not as convinced that those “unprecedented times” would lead to long-lasting change. Historically, philanthropy has always risen to big news moments like the 2016 election results, Supreme Court decisions, market crashes, and climate change disasters. However, as a whole, the sector’s old habits are tougher to break.

Since the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy’s 2020 report, Black Funding Denied, we have tracked multiple trends on giving to Black communities. In our latest published update, data showed a positive rise in funding in 2020 and early signs continuing into 2021. However, more recent 990 data shows that funding for Black communities is reverting to its mean.

Funding for Black communities reached its peak at 1.9% of overall philanthropic giving in 2020 (still nowhere close to meeting the population share of Black people in this country). This percentage slightly decreased in the following years, dropping to 1.3% in 2022.

This drop off and underfunding of Black communities is troubling, but unsurprising. In my grants analysis experience, foundations do not commit more multi-year general operating support to marginalized communities in the same way when public pressure goes away. The outpour of support we saw in 2020 was directly driven by the pressure generated by Black-led social movements. So how do we turn reactive grantmaking for Black communities into sustained partnerships?

The Data on the Underfunding of Black Communities Speaks for Itself

In reviewing ABFE’s recent Factsheets,“Key Facts About Nonprofits With Majority Black Leadership” and “Key Facts About Nonprofits With Black CEOs,” it struck me that Black leaders are consistently operating from a place of scarcity in comparison to their white counterparts. In their sample size, provided by Candid Demographic Data, 15% of CEOs identify as Black or African American. Yet, nonprofits with Black CEOs account for 28% of all organizations with budgets below $50,000.

Read the full article about the underfunding of Black communities by Katherine Ponce at National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.