Southern Grassroots Organizations are an Overlooked Funding Opportunity for Individual Donors

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Many savvy philanthropists want to know that their giving is making a tangible, positive impact. A new resource for donors highlights an opportunity to improve lives and support an equitable and just future for all communities across the country.

"The Case for Funding in the South" by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), a brief for individual donors that highlights why they must include Southern grassroots organizations as part of their philanthropy to address root causes of inequities and injustices.

Untapped potential

According to the brief, the U.S. South is the proving ground for some of the nation's regressive public policies. Yet, research indicates that foundations and individual donors are overlooking this region.

Despite the lack of philanthropic support, Southern frontline organizations have a track record of protecting marginalized communities, activating their bases and promoting civil rights.

This is because the South produces leaders with the skills and experiences needed to confront national challenges:

1. Southerners get the most out of scant budget resources.
2. Southerners are experienced working safely and strategically despite threats and intimidation.
3. Southerners know how to fight white nationalism, having faced it on the frontlines for generations. 
4. Southerners are bridge-builders, with the reality of scarce resources creating a need to break issue siloes and build power across race, gender, immigration status and class.

"Individual philanthropists have the opportunity to fuel new movements born in the South that can transform the nation," says NCRP.

5 Steps to begin effective Southern philanthropy

Based on conversations with community leaders, local groups and several grantmakers with deep connections in the South, NCRP identified 5 steps that donors can take to ensure that their philanthropy is as effective as can be:

1. Examine your current giving: Are you giving to Southern groups?
2. Join Grantmakers for Southern Progress and other donor groups in the South.
3. Meet with Southern leaders working on your issues.
4. Begin with exploratory gifts.
5. Learn more about the do's and don'ts of high-impact giving in the South.

Download "The Case for Funding in the South" on www.ncrp.org.

About NCRP

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy amplifies the voice of nonprofits and the communities they serve in the philanthropic sector. Through research and advocacy, it works to ensure that grantmakers and donors contribute to the creation of a fair, just and equitable world.

SOURCE National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy