June 2024
Headlines: The Eleventh Circuit’s Fearless Fund Ruling
On June 3, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that the American Alliance for Equal Rights has standing to sue the Fearless Foundation and that the Fearless Foundation grant program must remain halted under a preliminary injunction while the case proceeds in court.
This case could cause a fundamental shift in how philanthropy supports nonprofit organizations. For a full case summary, click here.
As this continues to unfold, Purpose Possible will be keeping a close eye on how the ruling may affect our clients. In the meantime, here are several responses and resources:
A Grant Program for Black Women Business Owners Is Discriminatory, Appeals Court Rules
Fearless Fund Ruling Could Challenge Business As Usual For Foundations
How the Fearless Fund Ruling Distorts Charity, History — and Law
Funders Launch Initiative to Provide Legal Education and Defense for Racial Justice Organizations
Articles and News
Will the Revolution Be Funded?
Organizers and researchers Zac Chapman and Nairuti Shastry examine how movements can build power by working within, without, and against philanthropy. (The Forge)
Women of Color Leaders: Shifting Power Dynamics within the Board–Executive Relationship
“Women of color nonprofit executives are confronting implicit and explicit biases—we are working in a world not designed for us but being shaped by us, and we face more inequities and discrimination than our White colleagues. Being put into positions of power—and sitting in our power, exercising our power, acknowledging our power, leadership, and agency—often puts women of color executives in the crosshairs of extra scrutiny. Consequently, our hold on power is unusually precarious.” (Nonprofit Quarterly)
What Dark Money Critics Are Getting Wrong About Philanthropic Intermediaries Like Tides
“Intermediaries are most often playing a supportive, facilitating role — an infrastructural role — and making it easier for movement groups to secure funding, by, say, acting as fiscal sponsors or hosting DAFs. In that sense, Tides and its peers may sometimes be the curtain, but they’re not the man behind the curtain.” (Inside Philanthropy)
A New Chapter in BoardSource's Evolution: A Shift Towards Community
BoardSource has unveiled a new theory of change and shift towards community engagement. (BoardSource)
Studies and Resources
State of Nonprofits 2024: What Funders Need to Know
Center for Effective Philanthropy’s Nonprofit Voice Project’s annual report on the industry.
Annie E. Casey’s Changing the Odds Report 2024
The third Changing the Odds report details Atlanta’s data landscape in three key areas for children’s healthy development: the community where they grow up; school experiences; and family access to economic opportunities, Enduring and growing racial disparities since the 2015 and 2019 Changing the Odds reports, Policies and practices that are leading to progress and results, and Recommendations to address racial disparities and support thriving communities, educational achievement and economic opportunity for all Atlantans. (Annie E Casey)
Creating visionary social change: A conversation with Vu Le & Hildy Gottlieb
A recording of a conversation about Catalytic Thinking as a pathway out of what Vu has described as being in a rut of incrementalism. (Creating the Future)
For Funders
Going it Together: Three Foundations, One Office
Atlanta’s own R. Howard Dobbs, Jr. Foundation, Tull Charitable Foundation, and Sartain Lanier Family Foundation share about their decision to combine offices and other administrative resources. (Center for Effective Philanthropy)
An online resource hub and community for grantmakers incorporating or experimenting with participatory grant making practices. “Founded in March 2020 as an informal group of a dozen people, the Participatory Grantmaking Community has grown to more than 1,400 people in 73 different countries.”
Bringing more voices to the table: WINGS and the ongoing evolution of philanthropy
A feature on WINGS, “a network of more than 200 philanthropic associations, support organizations, academic institutions and funders working in over 55 countries around the world. It is a leader in developing philanthropy and social investment in every part of the globe. Through its network, WINGS has an estimated reach of around 100,000 philanthropic entities, collectively mobilizing billions of dollars for social good.” (Charles Stewart Mott Foundation)
