How funders can help BIPOC organizations build assets

Amidst growing national and international momentum around racial justice, many funders have committed to offsetting the power dynamics that currently exist in philanthropy. They’ve launched new programs focused on racial equity, increased hiring of diverse leaders, and upped funding commitments to BIPOC communities through general operating support. But is that enough? As Ed Smith-Lewis, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at UNCF, explains, “More general operating support for Black-led organizations is great, but what we could really use is help getting off the hamster wheel, so we don’t need to ask for more funding next year too.” However, when it comes to truly transferring, sharing, and ceding power and assets to BIPOC groups, philanthropic practice largely hasn’t kept pace.

In the Monitor Institute by Deloitte’s latest piece at the Stanford Social Innovation Review, “BIPOC Organizations and the Hamster Wheel of Philanthropy,” we explore how philanthropy can go beyond traditional giving and shift from a charity mindset to an asset-building one. Informed by research in the field and inspired by organizations that are leading the charge in pioneering this new approach to giving, the piece illustrates what asset building looks like in practice and outlines four ways funders can begin to help BIPOC-led organizations accumulate and control wealth that compounds over time.

And for additional perspectives on where philanthropy may be headed over the next decade, also check out our recent SSIR article series on What’s Next for Philanthropy in the 2020s.

Authors:

• Grace Azenabor, Senior Consultant, Monitor Institute by Deloitte
• Mariam Mansury, Senior Manager, Monitor Institute by Deloitte
• Jasmine Arai, Senior Manager, Monitor Institute by Deloitte
• Gabriel Kasper, Managing Director, Monitor Institute by Deloitte