Black Communities are Missed and Underfunded by Canadian Philanthropy
5 mins read · December 2020
Network for the Advancement of Black Communities and Carleton University’s Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership program
Summary
This report provides an extensive and pragmatic examination of funding support from Canadian philanthropy to address unique challenges that Black communities face. It makes a case for the urgent need to direct more funds and resources to elevate Black Canadians in light of these challenges. To illustrate the absence of Canadian philanthropy in supporting Black people in Canada, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews with ten Black and nonprofit leaders across the Canadian philanthropy sector, followed by a review of the funding portfolios of 40 Canadian foundations.
Methodology
The authors presented the research in three parts:
First, the authors summarize secondary research data to help answer why it is urgent for philanthropy, alongside public policy, to address the specific needs of Black communities.
The authors then summarize the findings from interviews with Black and non-Black philanthropic and nonprofit leaders across key urban centers in Canada.
Finally, they summarize an empirical analysis of the funding portfolios of 40 public, private, and community foundations over two fiscal years beginning 2017.
The report highlights funding disparities faced by Black-led and Black-serving organizations.
The qualitative evidence shows that:
In 2017 and 2018, only 6 out of 40 public and private foundations funded Black-serving organizations, and only 2 foundations funded Black-led organizations. Compared to the number of these organizations in Canada, both public and private foundations appear to underfund Black-serving and Black-led organizations.
The grant funding is unsustained and does not invest in the long-term capabilities of these Black community organizations, perpetuating issues they face.
The philanthropy sector does not understand the needs of Black communities nor the extent to which the sector is supporting them. The current state of inadequate data, lack of representation of Black communities in philanthropy leadership, and systemic barriers, including anti-Black racism, have led to a severe underfunding of Black communities across Canada despite ongoing challenges.
Interviews with sector leaders
From the interviews, most participants indicated that philanthropic support of Black communities requires drastic improvement. Furthermore, the report suggests that Canadian philanthropic institutions lack a commitment to the needs and priorities of Black communities. According to the President and CEO of a foundation in Western Canada: “If we never talk about it, how can we ever claim we were doing it?”
Inadequate Data: A few respondents agreed that disaggregated data could help us expose hidden trends. A senior member of a philanthropic organization said, “We will continue to put money into suboptimal models or models that are incongruent with the day-to-day reality of struggling communities.” Several philanthropic leaders emphasized that it is also not the sole responsibility of Black communities to produce this data, but rather a shared responsibility of the philanthropic sector.
Systemic barriers: One of the significant barriers cited by the respondents is granting processes that are inequitable for Black communities. Several participants believe that the granting process overlooks the reality of community groups, who may not have the relationships or organizational infrastructure to submit strong applications or – depending on the eligibility criteria – to apply at all.
One participant explained that anti-Black racism contributes to a mental model that there is no need to understand Black communities’ needs as distinct. Another echoed that: “Race needs a very distinct lens and approach to it because of the historical systemic strategies, and not just barriers - strategies - to keep people in places of poverty.”
The authors conclude that nonprofit and philanthropy organizations believe that a lack of data, lack of representation, and understanding of Black communities are critical factors that result in the lack of support for Black-led and Black-serving organizations, which are followed by multiple systemic barriers, including anti-Black racism, are the main reasons that Canadian philanthropy has thus far failed Black communities overall.
Analysis of Foundation funding for Black community organizations
From the 40 public, private, and community foundations, and funding portfolios reviewed, the dataset used for the study included the ten most prominent public and private foundations in Canada by endowment/asset size and also consists of the 15 largest community foundations by endowment/asset size.
The public and private foundations in the study represent 12.9 percent of total assets held by all Canadian public and private foundations, and the community foundations in the study represent 87 percent of total assets held by all Canadian community foundations.
Key Findings
13 initiatives provide funding or resources explicitly to Black communities; most of these are not by registered foundations but rather charitable organizations or nonprofits that benefit Black communities.
In 2017 and 2018, 0.03 percent of funds were disbursed to Black-led organizations and 0.13 percent to Black-serving foundations from the top 10 foundations with an asset representation of about $10 billion.
Of the 25 private and public foundations surveyed, only two foundations funded Black-led organizations over the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, and only six funded Black-serving organizations in the same timeframe.
Together, these 25 foundations disbursed $979M in total in the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, with just 0.16 percent of these funds going to either Black-led or Black-serving organizations.
For every $100 the top 15 community foundations disbursed, only 7 cents went to Black-led organizations and only 70 cents went to Black-serving organizations.
Takeaways
The current top-down philanthropic model places granting institutions like foundations in a position of power and privilege over grantee organizations. Hence, this model is likely ill-suited to tackle systemic issues and the root causes of discrimination and marginalization of Black communities specifically. Based on these findings, the report suggests that a Black-led community philanthropy model is needed to support more equitable granting. The "Foundation for Black Communities" can offer the opportunity for philanthropy to build mechanisms that prioritize investments into and build autonomy of Black communities, while also advancing an innovative philanthropy model for Canadian foundations.
Read the full report here.
References
Pereira, R., Abokor, L., Ahmad, F., & Abdikkarim, F. (2021). UNFUNDED: Black communities overlooked by Canadian Philanthropy. Foundation for Black Community (FFBC) – Helping to empower Canadian black people.
