What is Justice Philanthropy?
We appreciate the following definition from Resource Generation: “Social justice philanthropy focuses on the root causes of social, racial, economic and environmental injustices. It strives to include the people who are impacted by those injustices as decision-makers. It also aims to make the field of philanthropy more accessible and diverse. In social justice philanthropy, foundations are accountable, transparent and responsive in their grantmaking. Donors and foundations act as allies to social justice movements by contributing not only monetary resources but their time, knowledge, skills and access. Social justice philanthropy is also sometimes called social change philanthropy, social movement philanthropy, and community-based philanthropy.”
Why Justice Philanthropy?
We know firsthand that Justice Philanthropy is important to ensure that Racial Equity and Racial Justice work can be resourced for the long-haul. According to “Mismatched: Philanthropy’s Response to the Call for Racial Justice,” a report from Philanthropy Initiative for Racial Equity, only 6 percent of philanthropic dollars supported Racial Equity work and only 1 percent supported Racial Justice work in 2018, the last year for which fully complete grants data are available. Of those small fractions of the entirety of philanthropic dollars, only 1.3 percent of Racial Equity funding and 9.1 percent of Racial Justice funding supported grassroots organizing.
Black and Brown-led organizations and initiatives like Forward Through Ferguson cannot operate on budgets that are dependent on reactionary giving that arises from recent tragedy and fades along with media attention.
How does Forward Through Ferguson’s work align with Justice Philanthropy?
What if people most impacted by racial inequities were fully resourced and equipped to design and implement transformative solutions? We at Forward Through Ferguson believe that we are uniquely positioned to design and facilitate community-led funding models that challenge donors and funders to prioritize community needs for healing and justice.
Forward Through Ferguson (FTF) advances Justice Philanthropy through having served as the administrator of the Racial Healing + Justice Fund, facilitating selection, meetings, convener and facilitator of the Community Governance Board of the Fund, and co-designing the forthcoming endowed Racial Equity Fund. FTF also provides Build Racial Equity Capacity offerings to organizations in the philanthropy sector.