Our democracy and our climate are in crisis. The nation’s activists and organizers are rising to meet this challenge with inventiveness and courage. It’s time for philanthropy to do the same.

That’s why the Wallace Global Fund will nearly double our grant budget this year, dedicating all of our portfolio gain from the last year to grantmaking — and none toward increasing our endowment. That will mean an additional $10 million in grants to tackle the extraordinary challenges our country and the world face.

By increasing our collective grant-making power, we could exponentially grow the power of civil society to serve as a check against undue influence of special interests over our government.

The market’s strong growth was unquestionably driven by the expectation, and eventual realization, of a massive corporate tax giveaway and the shredding of regulations critical to the protection of the environment, consumers, and our health.

The Wallace Global Fund is committed to defending the rights of the disenfranchised in the face of corrupt power, alongside protecting our environment. We recognize that the significant gains in our portfolio of the last year are inextricably linked to these unprecedented attacks on both our climate and our democracy.

We should be using these gains to strengthen the capacity of civil society to respond to dire threats. Nonprofit organizations and social-movement leaders are working to fight racism and hatred, defend the rights of the most marginalized, protect the pillars of democracy, and advocate for sensible actions on climate. They need our resources now more than ever.

What if all of philanthropy channeled more of its substantial investment gains into deepening support for grantees? Think of what we could accomplish.

Read the full article about increasing grantmaking by Ellen Dorsey at the National Center for Family Philanthropy.