It is already politicizing charitable organizations. It may also destroy them.
For people who are worried about whether a new woke ideology has taken over philanthropy, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that it is everywhere. From the biggest foundations to the smallest nonprofits, an agenda of racial equity and identity politics is pervasive. The good news, though, is that this ideology is so divorced from reality that it might spell the end of many of these organizations.
Over the past year, billions of dollars have been pledged to support the cause of racial equity. According to a report from the AP, $12 billion in charitable contributions were “earmarked for racial equity” in the past year. A recent survey from the Center for Effective Philanthropy of 800 foundations found that 75 percent “had initiated efforts to support nonprofits that serve communities of color.” And according to Ellie Buteau, the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s vice president of research, the foundations were “trying to learn more about racism” and “self-reflect” about hiring and grant-making.
Indeed, for many foundations, the new mandate is not simply to give to more woke causes, regardless of their organization’s mission. It is to entirely change the way they do business. A recent article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy advised foundations that “to decolonize philanthropy, we need to create diversity in fundraising.” The author noted that “Right now, raising money is designed to approach and engage old, straight white men — especially in major-gift fundraising. . . . If we are running a children’s health organization in Atlanta, for example, then we should have African American major donors, not just old white people, and the number of women donors should reflect the community.”
Of course, if you think that old straight white men are the ones with a disproportionate share of the money, it would probably make sense for your nonprofit to focus on asking them for some. But now it seems that optics matter more than financial resources for, say, children’s health in Atlanta.
