PREPARING PHILANTHROPY TO PROMOTE EQUITY |
WHY PHILANTHROPY?

To support efforts that aim to promote racial, social, and economic equity it is important to consider "who has a stake in the future of the Mid South and controls resources that can be invested to strengthen the region?" One answer is philanthropy, in that it is well positioned to take a leadership role to promote equity.

• Philanthropic organizations—given the resources they control, their neutrality, and their missions to strengthen the common good—can bring citizens together across racial, geographic, political, and economic lines to frame public issues; design inclusive processes that take seriously the perspectives of and solutions generated by marginalized and vulnerable populations; and develop policy alternatives that foster equitable community development.
  
  
• Because philanthropic organizations do not under most conditions face shareholder pressure to deliver short-term returns on investments, they can—unlike organizations operating in the for-profit sector—take a longer-term perspective on complex issues and make sustained investments in people, organizations, and community initiatives working to promote equity.
  
  
• Because philanthropic dollars represent a community's stock of flexible, higher-risk capital, these resources can be invested to (1) build economic development infrastructure and community development organizations that do not exist, (2) enable citizens in local places to develop and implement strategies for responding to demographic, public policy, and economic shifts that leave vulnerable and marginalized populations at increased risk, and (3) help communities collect data and conduct research on key community challenges.
  
  
• Given the unique vantage point that allows their board members and staff to see the full range of a community's assets and challenges, philanthropic organizations have the capacity to "shine a light on" social issues and problems that may otherwise fall off the radar screen.
  
  
• Philanthropic organizations in partnership with the people and organizations they invest in can work on multiple fronts and employ diverse strategies in their efforts to build more just and equitable communities. When he was president of the Minneapolis Foundation, Emmett Carson suggested that the philanthropic tool kit can extend "beyond grantmaking to include loans, convening, public education, advocacy, cultural events, and public policy strategies."*
  

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Emmett Carson, "Letter from the President," in The Minneapolis Foundation: 1995-96 Annual Report, p. 5.

More information on philanthropy's role in promoting equity can be found in Where Hope and History Rhyme.

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