posted on: Friday, August 03, 2012

By Niki Jagpal

As the economy recovers, foundations funding various issues have the opportunity to help by increasing their funding across various issues and employing the strategies of targeted universalism and social justice in their grantmaking.

There is evidence that improvements in education, health, arts and culture and the environment have the potential to make positive contributions to the economy as it recovers. This is a justifiable reason for issue-specific funders to consider equity and targeting those in most need within universal grants: the benefits of an improved economy will be felt by all and it is an opportunity for grantmakers to demonstrate their ability to supplement and complement public sector work to help the economy as it rebounds.

For example:

• A June 2012 report by Americans for the Arts, Arts & Economic Prosperity IV ™ analyzed the economic impact of nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences. One of the key findings in the report was that the arts provided significant positive returns to the economy during a time of national economic turmoil:
  
  "Nationally, the industry generated $135.2 billion of economic activity – $61.1 billion by the nation's nonprofit arts and culture organizations in addition to $74.1 billion in event-related expenditures by their audiences. This economic activity supports 4.1 million full-time jobs. Our industry also generates $22.3 billion in revenue to local, state, and federal governments every year – a yield well beyond their collective $4 billion in arts allocations."
  
  For a more in-depth commentary on this report and the arts and the economy, check out our blog post on the Huffington Post.

• The intergenerational patterns of poverty created by inequities in education and completion of high school and college graduation if mitigated would address the economic disparities and lead to a more educated population with markedly higher earning potential, contributing to a healthier economy and the United State’s position in the increasingly globalized and interconnected world economy.

• A healthier population would cost the healthcare system significantly less because there would be less people seeking emergency services and more going to seek preventative care. Community-based health reform and community-health centers are already reducing the cost of healthcare and responding to our changing demographics.

• A cleaner and safer environment benefits the economy because of linkages with other issues it impacts such as health and education; it is also more efficient because less money will be spent on addressing continuing degradation and green jobs offer the potential to add to this as well.

NCRP’s High Impact Strategies for Philanthropy series provides an in-depth examination and practical tips of how issue-specific funders would see greater impact if they were to use targeted means within universal programs and use a social justice lens in their grantmaking.

Moreover, providing grants in these ways increases civic engagement and social capital, essential ingredients for a healthy and vibrant democracy.

With the upcoming elections in November, grantmakers across all issues have the opportunity, and arguably the obligation, to consider seriously how these two suggested means of providing funding could factor into their grantmaking strategy.

Do you have any examples of the different ways that foundations can apply these two grantmaking strategies? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.


Niki Jagpal is research and policy director at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP).