Leaders of relatively small foundations who were poised to take action immediately following President Trump’s 2016 victory followed through with plans to change their grant-making strategies, a survey released Thursday suggested.
Almost one-quarter of foundation leaders changed their giving practices in response to the presidential election, according to a survey conducted in November by Exponent Philanthropy, a membership group of foundations with few staff members. That result tracks closely with the 22 percent who said they intended to make changes in a similar survey the group conducted during Trump’s first few months in office.
Henry Berman, Exponent’s chief executive, likened the grant makers to a person who makes a New Year’s resolution to get regular exercise and is still making daily trips to the gym in June.
“It’s impressive,” he said. “Talk is cheap. These are people who actually did something.”
But the foundation leaders exhibited a different mind-set about the role of philanthropy compared with 2017. The majority of the 453 leaders who were surveyed in November didn’t think philanthropy would have more influence in society following the midterm elections. Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, more than three-quarters said philanthropy would play a more important role.
More than half of those who had made changes either started supporting new advocacy efforts or increased grants for existing advocacy work. Other responses included giving more grants for general operating support, changing funding allocations, and adding new funding areas. About one third of foundation leaders who had instituted changes said they had made each of those adjustments. About 16 percent of those who changed practices said they had increased the number of grants or amount of money made in grants.
More for Advocacy
Berman said the increased support for advocacy comes as more foundations attack the root causes of social issues. He said supporting a nonprofit that provides a direct service, such as a soup kitchen, is important, but “people are coming to understand the importance of systems change to make sure there is no longer a need for soup kitchens.
Advocacy support, Berman said, includes setting up gatherings for grantees interested in a particular subject, supporting research to aid a cause, supporting public-awareness campaigns, and building coalitions to take a course of action.
The Triple EEE foundation is one of those grant makers that has increased its advocacy support.
Floyd Keene, president of the organization, which promotes the benefits of building esteem, improving education, and encouraging exercise, says the “polarizing” political climate created by the Trump administration and the news media has prompted him to give more to advocacy efforts.
Keene has bumped up the foundation’s advocacy grants from about 35 percent of its budget to well more than 50 percent.
By focusing more on advocacy and giving to groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, Keene says he hopes to influence how federal funds are spent.”
“We’re small potatoes,” he said. “The small amount of money we give can help, but it’s not going to have a big impact. I can have a much bigger impact than this foundation’s giving” by supporting advocacy, he said.