With the ongoing economic downturn there has been a dramatic increase in medical uninsured rates, homelessness, and small-business bankruptcies, as well as a crisis in education and diminishing job opportunities. To better address these burgeoning challenges, foundations and nonprofits are questioning their usual strategies and seeking new and more effective approaches for tackling much-needed, widespread social change.
Written for grantmakers, including foundation trustees and program officers, as well as nonprofit executive directors and others, Change Philanthropy is a guide for developing effective long-term strategies that address the causes of critical social problems. The book provides an insider's view of what works—as well as what doesn't work—with respect to grantmaking and grant funding strategies in support of social change. The book showcases a diverse selection of philanthropic institutions and collaboratives that have undertaken a structural analysis of social inequities, including the Liberty Hill Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Needmor Fund, Jacobs Family Foundation, Discount Foundation, Global Fund for Women, Schott Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Society Institute, and the Gulf Coast Fund (a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors).
The book is filled with stories and illustrative interviews with successful grantmakers and foundation executives that clearly show how funds are distributed and secured for organizations that work for systemic change. In addition, Change Philanthropy includes useful tips, proven strategies, and practical ideas that can be put into place immediately to support a social justice agenda.
Change Philanthropy provides a critical road map for foundations and nonprofits that strive to have all citizens participate fully in the social, spiritual, economic, and political life of their nation.
The Center for Community Change, founded in 1968, is a national nonprofit that strengthens the leadership, voice, and power of low-income communities and communities of color nationwide to confront the vital issues of today and build the social movements of tomorrow.
The Project Director Marjorie Fine directs The Linchpin Campaign, a project of the Center for Community Change, whose goal is to expand the resources available to community organizing efforts in the United States. In 2009 she produced a downloadable resource entitled Untapped: How Community Organizers Can Develop and Deepen Relationships with Major Donors and Raise Big Money.
