COMM-ORG Papers 2003 |
http://comm-org.wisc.edu/papers.htm |
by
Robert O. Bothwell
Principal, VISIONS REALIZED
President Emeritus, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
1025 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 205
Washington, DC 20036 USA
tel: 202-467-4495, 703-836-4857
fax: 202-955-5606, 703-836-1304
An abbreviated version of this paper will appear in Foundations for Social Change: Critical Perspectives on Philanthropy and Popular Movements, Daniel Faber and Deborah McCarthy, eds., Temple University Press. COMM-ORG gratefully acknowledges permission of the publisher to make this paper available here.
For the past 22 years, there has been a diminution of progressive public policy in the U.S. Stated another way, public policy has less and less sought to improve the lives of low income people, working people who are not college graduates, racial/ethnic minorities, women and the disabled. Some big mainstream foundations have fought against this trend, as have some smaller foundations. They have been unable to reverse it. Fundamentally, this may be because there is insufficient foundation investment in progressive values and organizations. And because conservatives have organized their nonprofits and political movement much more effectively. But it may also be that the liberal foundations' support for the rights of disenfranchised populations has encouraged the development of nonprofit policy silos which have precluded organizing a broader movement for progressive values and votes. In reaction to the extremely limited mainstream foundation support for progressive organizations, a whole new set of progressive foundations and alternative funding institutions have developed. The latter include alternative funds seeking workplace contributions, women's funds, alternative community foundations, new religious funders, racial/ethnic philanthropic efforts, and more. The monies they raise for progressive social change are substantial, though no more than a quarter of all foundation money committed to social change. Thus far, they have failed to reverse the decline of progressive policy. Yet they may ultimately change the face of philanthropy's commitment to progressive public policy and social change.