By Sevetri Wilson
Small, grassroots nonprofits have long been the heartbeat of communities. Many of these organizations are BIPOC-led — meaning the leadership identifies as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. Unfortunately, BIPOC-led organizations often receive the least support.
The statistics tell a stark story.
Despite accounting for 3.5 percent of Canada’s population, Black-led and Black-serving community organizations have been severely underfunded by the nation’s foundations, according to Unfunded: Black Communities Overlooked by Canadian Philanthropy, a report published by the Network for the Advancement of Black Communities and Carleton University’s Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership program.
Black-led groups received only 0.03 percent of funds in the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, and Black-serving organizations received only 0.15 percent of funds in the same timeframe.
Also among underfunded nonprofits are Indigenous-led organizations which play critical roles in bolstering Indigenous communities. In Canada, charities serving Indigenous peoples receive only 1 percent of overall donations, although Indigenous peoples comprise 4.9 percent of the population, according to Alliance.
Indigenous-led nonprofits face a multitude of unique challenges
Foundations that do give to Indigenous-led nonprofits most often provide only intermittent support, making long-term relationship-building between Indigenous communities and the philanthropic sector challenging.
‘Overlooked,’ a report published by Candid and Native Americans in Philanthropy, shows that “Native American nonprofit leaders report having less positive experiences with their foundation funders than nonprofit leaders of other races/ethnicities.”
Further, the report finds that “Despite the significant challenges facing Native American people, most foundations continue to overlook nonprofits that serve Native American communities.”
There are numerous ways to support these organizations better. Findings by Investing in Native Communities show how funders can be more effective partners with Indigenous communities. The outlined recommendations include:
- Building awareness and recognition of critical barriers and bias – especially in minority-led organizations;
- Supporting Indigenous-led solutions;
- Adopting a trust-based philanthropy mindset and outcomes;
- Meeting people where they are;
- Adapting and evolving organizational systems and practices;
- Providing long-term operating support to Indigenous-led organizations;
- Partnering with Indigenous-led regranting institutions;
- Grounding the work in foundations’ missions; and
- Delivering the tools, resources, and training to help nonprofits maximize impact (e.g. fundraising efforts, administrative support, strategic planning, diversification and sustainability of funds, etc.).
How funders can help grassroots and Indigenous-led nonprofits build capacity
It’s a strange irony that while BIPOC and grassroots leaders are the ones closest to the communities they serve and are in positions to deliver the most impact, they are the ones who face the greatest challenges in winning funder support and gaining access to essential capacity-building resources.
In my 15 years of experience serving grassroots nonprofits, I witnessed firsthand the seemingly insurmountable challenges BIPOC-leaders face as they work to build their operations. Now, as a Black, female leader of a technology company serving the philanthropic ecosystem, I’m increasingly optimistic that the tide of support for historically marginalized nonprofits is changing.
Foundations and other funders are recognizing the systemic issues impacting underserved communities and are rethinking priorities. New programs dedicated to BIPOC-led organizations, often with a capacity-building component, are being implemented.
In addition, more and more funders are adopting trust-based philanthropy principles which can pave the way to developing more meaningful and impactful relationships with their grantees. According to Community Foundations of Canada, “At its core, trust-based philanthropy is about redistributing power – systemically, organizationally, and interpersonally — in service of a healthier and more equitable nonprofit ecosystem.”
In practice, funders following trust-based philanthropy principles give their supported nonprofits more freedom to use funds where they need them most. When funders provide their grantees access to self-directed capacity-building programs, those nonprofits can bridge gaps in the exact, urgent areas that are impeding their growth. This, in turn, enables nonprofits and their funders to make a greater impact together.
Perhaps the greatest change we’re witnessing in philanthropy is the continued development and adoption of technology serving the sector. New solutions are now available to enable funders to go “beyond the grant” and provide long-term operating support, education, tools, and resources to help nonprofits maximize impact in their communities.
Most critically, technology can level the playing field for grassroots nonprofits, democratizing access to key resources to help them build organizational strength. Whether starting a nonprofit, learning how to effectively manage staff, or building best practices in fundraising, grassroots nonprofits can now be equipped with resources that either didn’t exist or were too costly to access in the past.
Funders can provide a key role in this technological revolution. By providing nonprofits on-demand access to coaching, mentorship, online education, and the right tools, funders can dramatically amplify the breadth and depth of their support. This helps their grantees become more successful, sustainable organizations, able to deliver long-lasting impact for the communities they serve.
At Resilia, we’ve developed a Funder Program that gives foundations the ability to sponsor their grantees for customized, technology-based capacity-building solutions that meet nonprofits where they are in their development and deliver the resources to meet both their back-office and mission-facing needs. Sponsored grantees receive support through one-on-one coaching, peer-to-peer learning, and the Resilia Nonprofit Platform, which offers online training, story-building and fundraising tools, program tracking, customizable templates, and other resources.
Resilia has a proud history of working with historically marginalized nonprofits, and we know each carries a unique understanding of what’s needed to initiate and maximize change in their communities. As they work with Resilia, nonprofits have the autonomy to decide what they need, how, and when, depending on their organizational needs, urgency, and preferred mode of support.
One funder Resilia partners with sponsors Native Land Digital, an Indigenous-led/serving nonprofit in Canada which is working to create and foster conversations about the history of colonialism, Indigenous ways of knowing, and settler-Indigenous relations. They have used Resilia’s fundraising and board engagement online courses, and they leveraged our storytelling tool to increase their social media presence and fundraising.
This example shows that funders who are willing to embrace technology — along with a trust-based approach — in their support can help grassroots and BIPOC-led grantees strengthen long-term capacity and truly scale their missions. This amplifies everyone’s impact, becoming a win-win-win for all changemakers and the communities they support.
Sevetri Wilson is the Founder and CEO of technology startup Resilia, which was founded in 2016. She has been honored with the Nobel Prize for Public Service (2010) and the Jefferson Award (2010), and her work was featured in the U.S. Senate Report on Volunteerism to the Obama White House. In 2022, she gained the distinction of achieving the largest funding raise ever ($35M) for a solo Black female-founded tech company.
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