Philanthropic Watchdog Group Kicks Off Initiative With Foundations That Promise to Prioritize Underserved Communities

By: PR Newswire Jun. 8, 2011 09:27 AM

More than 60 foundations and other grantmakers submit public statements explaining their commitments

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 60 leading foundations from across the country that together give close to $2.5 billion a year in grants to nonprofit organizations promised to dedicate the majority of their giving to benefit underserved communities and a substantial amount to strategies that address the root causes of social problems, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) announced today.

Foundations and other grantmaking organizations that have voluntarily signed on to NCRP'S Philanthropy's Promise initiative will allocate at least 50 percent of their grant dollars to address the unique needs of the poor, elderly, disabled and other marginalized groups, and at least 25 percent towards supporting advocacy, community organizing and civic engagement to promote equity, opportunity and justice.

Through this initiative, NCRP is recognizing grantmakers that practice effective and strategic grantmaking that leads to lasting social change. The organization hopes the campaign will inspire other grantmakers to serve the common good by prioritizing and empowering underserved communities, and expects more grantmakers will sign on in the coming months.

"Philanthropy's Promise offers strategies that will help foundations and other institutional grantmakers - regardless of their size, focus and approach - to maximize the impact of their grant dollars," said Aaron Dorfman, executive director of NCRP. "Studies and stories have shown that these high impact strategies leverage philanthropy's limited resources effectively."

More than 60 grantmakers have submitted their public statements explaining their commitment to the Promise. These grantmakers include big and small foundations, private foundations, family foundations, corporate foundations, community foundations and other grantmaking public charities.

Grantmakers that have submitted statements include:

Akonadi Foundation CA New World Foundation, The NY Arcus Foundation NY New York Foundation NY California Community Foundation CA North Star Fund, Inc. NY California Endowment, The CA Northwest Area Foundation MN Common Counsel Foundation CA Northwest Health Foundation OR Compton Foundation, Inc. CA Overbrook Foundation, The NY Conrad N. Hilton Foundation CA Penney Family Fund CA Daphne Foundation, The NY Peppercorn Foundation WA Discount Foundation, The DC Proteus Fund, Inc. MA Edward W. Hazen Foundation, Inc., Public Welfare Foundation, The NY Inc. DC Ford Foundation NY Retirement Research Foundation IL Foundation for Louisiana (formerly the Louisiana Disaster Robert Wood Johnson Recovery Foundation, Inc.) LA Foundation, The NJ Foundation for the Mid-South MS Rosenberg Foundation CA French American Charitable Trust CA Saint Paul Foundation, The MN Silicon Valley Community General Mills Foundation MN Foundation CA Groundswell Fund CA Social Justice Fund Northwest WA Headwaters Foundation for Justice MN Solidago Foundation MA Hill-Snowdon Foundation DC Southern Partners Fund GA Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, Inc. NY Third Wave Foundation NY Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust NC Tides Foundation CA Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Kirkpatrick Family Foundation, The, and its Unitarian The WA Universalist Veatch Program NY United Way of Greater Los Levi Strauss Foundation CA Angeles CA Liberty Hill Foundation CA W.K. Kellogg Foundation MI Maine Initiatives, Inc. ME Wallace Foundation, The NY Marguerite Casey Foundation WA Warner Foundation NC Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Inc. NC Western States Center OR McKenzie River Gathering Foundation OR Wieboldt Foundation IL Winthrop Rockefeller McKnight Foundation, The MN Foundation, The AR Women's Foundation of Meyer Memorial Trust OR Minnesota MN Minneapolis Foundation, The MN Woods Fund of Chicago IL Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Mitchell Kapor Foundation, The CA Inc. NC Needmor Fund, The OH

"We believe that meeting the challenges of these times requires that we take risks. It also requires that we advance programs and initiatives that have the potential to be transformative, even when the approaches are new," said Luis Ubinas, president of the Ford Foundation. "After all, risk and challenge are more than just the privilege of philanthropy - they are its responsibility."

"With limited resources, McKnight's programs seek to provide support where we believe we can have the greatest impact. In many cases, this requires that we attend to underserved communities," wrote Kate Wolford, president of the McKnight Foundation in the foundation's public statement. "Additionally, McKnight's board has long recognized the power of pursuing lasting, systemic change through advocacy, community organizing, and civic engagement."

"We encourage every grantmaker to actively consider how their individual mission statements and grantmaking priorities may enable them to participate in this challenge or, at the least, fully understand and reflect on the constraints that prevent them from doing so," wrote Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, in his foundation's public statement.

For more information, visit www.philanthropyspromise.org.

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy in Washington, D.C. is a national watchdog, research and advocacy organization that promotes philanthropy that serves the public good, is responsive to people and communities with the least wealth and opportunity, and is held accountable to the highest standards of integrity and openness. Visit www.ncrp.org.

SOURCE National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

Great mention of the NonprofitCenters Network impact study Measuring Collaboration: The Benefits and Impacts of Nonprofit Centers in Philanthropy Journal:

An analysis of 146 centers by the The NonprofitCenters Network, a program of Tides, found about 86 percent of organizations co-locating with other nonprofits see "significant" improvement in their effectiveness and efficiency.

Some of those benefits come from the ability to afford higher-quality facilities in better locations for as much as 75 percent below market rates, the study says.