The coronavirus pandemic and this spring’s racial-justice uprisings might inspire more support for Black-led nonprofits and entrepreneurs during Black Philanthropy Month, say the organizers of the August celebration.
At a virtual opening conference on August 1 and in online and in-person events throughout the month held by philanthropy organizations in Chattanooga, Houston, Washington, D.C., and other cities throughout the country, the organizers of the campaign hope to celebrate a history of communal giving and attract more grants from established philanthropies.
Black people give more of their disposable income on average than other groups, according to data compiled by the Urban Institute. Grants to groups that serve Blacks account for less than 2 percent of grant making at the nation’s largest foundations, according to one study.
In May, ABFE, a group of Black foundation leaders, circulated a letter signed by 64 of its members calling on foundations to take a number of steps to improve their support of Black people suffering in the pandemic and rallying against police brutality.
Valaida Fullwood, an author who writes about philanthropy and one of the people behind Black Philanthropy Month, hopes that the concentrated series of August events and a social-media blitz can help keep the momentum behind efforts to support Black-led organizations.
“I’m hopeful we can continue to push and see lasting change,” she says. “This is an opportunity not to be squandered by institutional philanthropy.”
But the focus won’t be solely on foundations or individual donors. For the first time, the event will include a sessions on impact investing, angel investing, and venture capital. The severity of the hit that black businesses have taken as a result of the pandemic and the urgency of the calls for racial justice require a bigger effort, says Jacqueline Bouvier Copeland, who founded the August campaign in 2011 to celebrate the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent. Bouvier Copeland, who is chief executive of the WISE Fund, was later joined by Fullwood, author of a book of philanthropic profiles called Giving Back, and Tracey Webb, founder of the giving circle Black Benefactors.
“Philanthropy can’t do it alone,” Bouvier Copeland says. “We need a Marshall Plan to rebuild Black communities.”
Copeland expects at least 1,000 people to participate in the month’s kickoff event, which will include talks from cable TV journalist Soledad O’Brien and political pundit Bakari Sellers. The organizers haven’t set a goal for the amount of donations and investments they’d like to see as a result of the opening meeting or from events planned throughout the month.
But they do want participants to share their thoughts about how gifts and investments can help Black nonprofits and businesses respond to the pandemic and racial injustice. They will survey members during the opening event to come to a set of giving principles that donors, grant makers, and companies can use to guide their gifts that will focus more on the changes they can help bring about than the amount of money given.
“We want to come up with very practical new funding principles so they can fund Black-led nonprofits with a racial-justice lens in a way that will not only be about the numbers but more about the impact,” says Bouvier Copeland. “We do not want corporations to choose organizations to fund so they can just check off that box.”
The Sankofa Fund for Civic Engagement, a giving circle in Chattanooga, makes mostly small gifts to support things like art camps and college tours for prospective students. Last month it provided water for Black Lives Matter protesters in the city. During Black Philanthropy Month, the group invites speakers to discuss their giving to the group. (Fullwood is this year’s guest.)
The group’s efforts are relatively small — it has given about $200,000 in the past five years — but it’s important, says James McKissic, a founding member of the fund.
“The energy that comes during Black Philanthropy Month really makes us feel connected to other Black giving circles,” he says. “It reminds us we are part of a bigger philanthropic movement and that our dollars are being pooled to help Black communities and Black people throughout the country.”
Ebonie Johnson Cooper, executive director of the Young, Black, and Giving Back Institute, created Give 8/28 Day in 2018 as a day to encourage donations to Black-led nonprofits. She was inspired by Black Philanthropy Month and picked August 28 because many events in Black history, such as the murder of Emmett Till, Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech, and Barack Obama’s acceptance of the Democratic nomination for president happened on that date.
During the giving day’s first year, 114 nonprofits received contributions totaling $12,700. In 2019 the number of nonprofits grew to 170, and the total amount given reached $34,000. Johnson Cooper says she’s tried unsuccessfully to get foundation support for the effort. The nonprofits that benefit from the day tend to be very new, small grassroots organizations that may not fit a foundation’s funding requirements.
“They’ve never really reached out with a financial commitment in the way that I had hoped,” she says.
This year could be a lot bigger, Johnson Cooper says. She hopes to raise a total of $250,000 for 500 organizations. The focus on racial justice following the police killing of George Floyd and the disparate impact of the pandemic on people of color have generated more interest in supporting Black-led groups. In April, GivingTuesday, the group that organizes the national giving day in November, featured Give 8/28 in its social media.
Webb hopes the attention on giving to Black-led nonprofits lasts longer than a day or a month and is promoting the hashtag #BPM365 to keep the momentum going.
“This is not just about August,” she says. “It is year round.”
