Resources for Equitable Grantmaking

Recommended resources to support and inspire equitable grantmaking practices.

Guide for Equitable Grantmaking:

• "The Sound Philanthropy Guide for Equitable Grantmaking" (PDF) Please feel free to download and/or share.

Books:

• Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

• My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem

• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, PhD

• Decolonizing Wealth by Edgar Villanueva

Articles and conversations:

• "Shifting Philanthropy from Charity to Justice": A Stanford Social Innovation Review article that offers great insight about how to move funding practices toward an equity lens.

• "Racial Equity and Philanthropy": An excellent report by Echoing Green and Bridgespan on their joint research on racial inequities in philanthropic funding to understand the role of race in the problems philanthropists are trying to solve.

• "In Philanthropy, Race Is Still a Factor in Who Gets What, Study Shows" by Paul Sullivan: A New York Times article about the Echoing Green/Bridgespan report.

• "As a Black Woman, I Can’t Ever Stop Thinking About Racism. It’s Not a Choice; It’s My Reality" by Natachi Onwuamaegbu. A thought-provoking op-ed published in the Seattle Times in June 2020.

• "How White People Conquered the Nonprofit Industry" by Anastasia Reesa Tomkin: A provocative and articulate piece in the Nonprofit Quarterly on the lack of Black leadership in the nonprofit industry.

• "Why Ta-Nehisi Coates Is Hopeful": In this fantastic interview, Ezra Klein of VOX interviews author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates about the anti-black racism movement.

• "The Path To Ending Systemic Racism in the US": This TED Talk offers a platform for how to make systemic, anti-racist change happen.

• "Funders, Your Grant Application Process May Be Perpetuating Inequity" by Vu Le. Nonprofit AF, the blog of writer, speaker, and social justice activist Vu Le, is read nationwide. (Le also has a great sense of humor.) This post includes tangible recommendations for funding practices that promote equity.

Foundations doing great work in equity practices:

• Libra Foundation: Free and equal in dignity and rights. I recommend a recent blog post by the Executive Director: “On the Precipice.”

• Meyer Memorial Trust: Working toward a flourishing and equitable Oregon. I recommend the foundation’s Equity Statement.

• Surdna Foundation: Supporting just and sustainable communities. I recommend reading the foundation’s approach and commitment to social justice.

Please let me know if I can be of assistance in developing your equitable grantmaking program.