REFERENCE

Recommendations for Philanthropy

If you are serious about aligning your wealth to your race-equity focused values, your philanthropy should directly address the racial wealth gap.  

CLTV’s recommendations for philanthropy are steeped in the tenets of Social Justice Philanthropy, which approaches philanthropy with a focus on investing in those entities and activities addressing root causes of social, racial, and economic injustices. We are also particularly interested in systems change so we pay attention to whether organizations work on policy change.

Thanks to conversations with economists, policy creators and leaders, researchers, and community partners, we believe that focused, consistent and deep investment in the 3 Key Impact Areas outlined below will lead to economic equity toward wealth building for Black and Brown communities.

3 Key Impact Areas for Addressing the Racial Wealth Gap

1. Education: Seek and support initiatives that help individuals earn credentials and that lead to high wage, career-track, leadership roles in traditional industries (medicine, law, engineering, finance) and/or high-growth industries (bio-tech, environmental sustainability, digital technologies).

2. Entrepreneurship: Seek and support initiatives that help to grow and strengthen a sustained Black business ecosystem with a focus on both emerging industries (high-tech, environmental technology, bio tech) and legacy industries (real estate, personal care, hospitality)

3. Home Ownership: Seek and support initiatives that provide transformative opportunities for individuals and families to build a foundation for intergenerational wealth through homeownership

Suggestions for Your Approach to Philanthropy

Focus. If you want to leverage the nonprofit sector to address the racial wealth gap, prioritize organizations that address one or more of the 3 Key Impact Areas (above) and focus your philanthropic dollars in these areas.  

Prioritize Impact:  Put yourself in the shoes of community leaders on the ground doing the social change work daily. Ask yourself “what is the most I can do to catalyze this work for the long haul?”  The goal is to go deep with your investment over a consistent period of time (3-5 years, for example) toward specific measurable outcomes that align with the organization's mission and the shared goal to reduce the racial wealth gap.

Pay Attention to Leadership: Prioritize organizations with demonstrated impact that are led by highly effective leaders of color. When you find a leader you love -- compassion, drive, honesty, confidence, humility -- generously support their organization, introduce them to your friends, and offer to fund their professional development and professional development for other leaders of color in their organization.

Cash Before Questions: When you find a leader you love, start writing them checks, and then start asking questions. Many donors waste enormous time of non-profit leaders putting them through long questionnaires or having them jump through hoops to prove their worth which can take tens of hours, thus taking them away from the actual work you want to support. Find a great leader, back them, and then see how you can be more helpful to their work and help them drive toward the outcomes they envision.

Give Unrestricted Funds: When possible, give  funds for general operating needs or to “the place of greatest need” as determined by organizational leadership. When you find a leader you love, write them a check, and then let them decide how to best invest it. After all, if you love the leader, you should trust their knowledge of how best to serve their constituencies rather than having a donor thrust their own beliefs upon them.

For more perspective on equity-focused approaches to philanthropy, please read Resource Generation’s Social Justice Philanthropy Principles

Curated List of Boston-Area “Community Investments”

Options that represent “key levers of impact” to help close the racial wealth gap in the Boston area. If you do not live in the Boston area, use the categories below to find organizations in your local community that are addressing the racial wealth gap.

*These organizations have a stated commitment to engaging in policy and advocacy efforts that serve to close the racial wealth gap.