Philanthropy’s Promise: Celebrating 1st Year Anniversary with 125 Inspiring Grantmakers
We are marking the first anniversary of Philanthropy’s Promise with a wonderful milestone: 125 leading U.S. foundations that represent a total of more than $3.37 billion in annual giving have pledged to prioritize the needs and promote the democratic participation of underserved communities such as the poor, the elderly and LGBTQ citizens.
When NCRP launched Philanthropy’s Promise a year ago, 64 grantmakers had made commitments to allocate at least 50 percent of their grant dollars to benefitting marginalized groups and 25 percent towards supporting advocacy, community organizing and civic engagement to address the root causes of social problems. Since then, 61 more funders have signed on – bringing the total to 125 – each providing a public statement describing the values and strategies that animate their own approach to this type of grantmaking.
Grants from foundations, such as the groups that have signed on to the Promise, are key sources of funding for the country’s nonprofits working on a broad range of issues such as access to education and health care, supporting the arts and fighting poverty, inequality and environmental degradation. Many of these groups have been struggling to make ends meet since the onset of the recession, with increased demands for services while seeing a decline in donations and grants.
View the Philanthropy’s Promise video below to learn more.
Below are highlights from the public statements of NoVo Foundation, The Cleveland Foundation and United Way of New York City, three grantmakers that recently signed on:
“Empowerment of underserved populations lies at the heart of NoVo Foundation’s grantmaking and for that reason we enthusiastically sign on to the Philanthropy’s Promise initiative. … We avoid top-down models for the improvement of societies, but instead commit ourselves to an earnest search for fresh ideas that show unusual promise for significant impact. We are willing to venture where others are reluctant to go; we remain patient in developing sustainable solutions; and we wish to convene diverse stakeholders to address common challenges.”- NoVo Foundation
“As the world’s first community foundation, we are proud to support Philanthropy’s Promise and embrace the guidelines established by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. … We recognized early on that making lasting impact and improvement goes beyond dollars; it often involves systemic change. … Improving economic and racial inclusion in our community is always at the core of our work.”- Robert E. Eckardt, Executive Vice President The Cleveland Foundation
“United Way of New York City is committed to fighting poverty across the five boroughs. … We rigorously evaluate our programs and use lessons learned to inform and advance public policies, systems and practices that prevent and alleviate poverty citywide.”- Gordon J. Campbell, President and CEO United Way of New York City
Grantmakers that are participating in Philanthropy’s Promise include large and small foundations from across the country. These consist of private foundations, family foundations, corporate foundations, community foundations and other grantmaking public charities.
Please visit the Philanthropy’s Promise website for the complete list of grantmakers that are a part of this initiative, along with their public statements explaining why they joined.
We’re inspired by the grantmakers that have signed on to the Promise. We hope you are, too!
Aaron Dorfmanis executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). This blog originally appeared on keeping a close eye…NCRP’s blog.
