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United Philanthropy Forum is committed to advancing racial equity in philanthropy. We provide space for our members to connect, learn and share together on how to effectively address racial equity in their work as philanthropy-serving organizations (PSOs), and works to share our members’ learnings with the broader philanthropy field. As part of these efforts, we are pleased to share case stories from our members about their racial equity work.

Case Story

Funders Together to End Homelessness: A Racial Equity Learning Journey

Funders Together to End Homelessness began its racial equity journey in 2016. Its case story explains how the PSO named racial equity in its strategic plan and embarked on a learning journey together with its board, staff, and members to normalize the conversation about structural and historic racism and how it contributes to disparities in the homelessness system. The story also describes how Funders Together created a two-year community of practice, called Foundations for Racial Equity (FRE), that has been a critical part of its journey, and how its codified its racial equity work through the creation of its Commitment to Racial Equity. 

Read Funders Together’s Case Story

Listen to Funders Together’s CEO Amanda Misiko Andere talk about her organization’s racial equity journey on an episode of the ForumNation podcast. 

Case Story

Southeastern Council of Foundations: An Experiential Racial Equity Journey

In early 2018, the Southeastern Council of Foundations (SECF) along with its board undertook a racial equity learning journey in order to develop an Equity Framework that would describe and define SECF’s character, what it stood for, and what its leaders were willing to fight for. The decision to develop the Equity Framework was the culmination of years of work. SECF’s case story explains how the organization used data to inform the development of its Equity Framework, created an Equity Task Force to lead the effort of developing a Framework, and engaged board, staff and Task Force members in a racial equity learning journey. 

Read SECF’s Case Story

Listen to SECF’s President & CEO Janine talk about her organization’s racial equity journey on an episode of the ForumNation podcast. 

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Multi-year Grants

Affirmation: Multi-year funds provided both reliability and breathing room for nonprofits.

Making fundamental and long-lasting change comes with the promise of reliable investments. Longer grant terms create an environment where collaborative partnerships can flourish, and trust and transparency break down power dynamics. The result is that nonprofits have the “breathing room” and financial stability to focus activities where they are most needed.

Although many funders award grants to the same nonprofits year after year, they often require submission of annual applications that request information they already have and are complex and needlessly lengthy. These processes can heighten mutual distrust. From a practical standpoint, multi-year awards reduce paperwork for both funder and nonprofit and open communication channels promoting shared goals, mutual trust, and increased overall impact.

Activities
• For funders that historically award repeat annual grants to the same nonprofit partners, shift from an annual grant/proposal cycle to a long-term, multi-year commitment with an annual outcomes/progress report in lieu of a full application.
• Tailor grant terms to suit grantee timelines and needs (negotiated outcomes and milestones).
• If data collection is required solely to meet a funder’s compliance requirements, the funder should assume this responsibility or provide sufficient funding and/or capacity for the nonprofit to meet the requirement.

Short-term Outcomes
• The number of funders making multi-year grants increases by 50% over the previous years.

Long-term Outcomes
• More funders convert an annual application process for repeat grantee partners to a multi-year commitment with an annual outcomes report at the most, instead of full proposals each year.
• Funders assume responsibility for data collection or provide sufficient funding and/or capacity for the nonprofit to meet the requirement.
• Grant terms are suited to grantee timelines and needs (negotiated outcomes and milestones).

How to Begin Doing Good Better on Reliability

Learning opportunities
• What barriers keep funders from making long-term commitments to repeat grantee partners? Are any of these barriers legal?
• What are the minimum data requirements for funders to collect from repeat grantee partners?

Pre-Work
• Address the barriers to awarding multi-year grants through tested tools.
• Learn about how multi-year grants strengthen grantee partners and improve philanthropic, nonprofit, and community impact.
• Research mechanisms funders can use to meet legal compliance requirements while gaining trust in their grantee partners.

In 2004, a group of foundations came together to create a funder collaborative in support of Freedom to Marry’s state-by-state strategy to win marriage equality. Over the following 11 years, this unique collaborative and its funding partners invested a total of $153 million to support a wide range of activities across the country to change hearts and minds on a massive scale — and ultimately to deliver a historic win for equality and love.

A new case study and video tell the untold, behind-the-scenes story of this funder collaborative — how its members worked with movement leaders to develop a strategy for winning, how they persevered in their support despite enormous setbacks, and how they invested in the opinion research, state-by-state grassroots action and litigation that pushed marriage over the finish line from coast to coast. As the Civil Marriage Collaborative closes its doors in 2015, the case study and video also draw lessons from this historic victory for foundations supporting other social justice causes.