In 2020, the Ms. Foundation for Women released a report entitled, Pocket Change: How Women of Color Do More With Less. The report attempted to understand how women and nonbinary leaders of color do their work. It also asked critical questions about how donors support and invest in the work of women and nonbinary leaders of color. According to the report, total philanthropic giving to women and girls of color in the United States in 2017 was just $357 million—about $5.48 per year for each woman or girl of color and just one-half of one percent of the total $66.9 billion given out by foundations.
Last month, the Ms. Foundation for Women released a new report that builds on these findings: Living With Pocket Change: What It Means to Do More with Less. This new report documents the findings from interviews with 15 nonbinary and women of color leaders to further examine what chronic underinvestment in these leaders looks like.
One of the main findings of the report is not surprising: women and nonbinary people of color are drawn to the work they do because it is personal to them. They know change is necessary because when they look at the incarcerated or disenfranchised women they work with, they see their family members and loved ones. They might even see themselves.
Total philanthropic giving to women and girls of color in the United States in 2017 was just $357 million—about $5.48 per year for each woman or girl of color and just one-half of one percent of the total $66.9 billion given out by foundations.
As one leader interviewed in the study noted, “These are not just numbers—women who are incarcerated are mothers, wives, daughters, aunts. They’re a part of our community, and so we have to really look at this in a way that recognizes the reality of what families are struggling with.”
Because the women and nonbinary leaders of color are invested in truly making things better for the people they work with, the historical underinvestment in their work is even more disheartening. As many interviewees noted, this underinvestment impacts their leadership—even with the desire to change things, their work is still limited, resulting in the disconnect from people and institutions with access to resources and power.
One new executive director, a young, Black immigrant, noted that she had to start leading with no formal introductions to funders and that it was hard to navigate trying to make the connections virtually and get program officers to take her seriously.
The Expectation of Doing More with Less
It becomes clear that organizations led by women and nonbinary people of color are not funded to win.
Even leaders with more longevity struggle because of underinvestment. Often, leaders grapple with how to delegate limited funds.
“I still coincidentally happen to be the lowest-paid person on staff so that we can [pay] our staff members, who oftentimes have to weather being paid late if a grant does not come in correctly,” said one interviewee.
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Others noted how they have to hire contractors instead of full-time staff or forego hiring more skilled staff members due to budget constraints.
Because of all of these obstacles to running an organization, many women and nonbinary leaders of color are burned out. One person noted how they had consistently been working 5:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. for four months straight. This same person is diabetic and does not even have health insurance because of the way the organization is set up.
They want to move beyond trust-based philanthropy and toward an ethic of care where they feel truly supported in the work that they do.
Throughout the report’s discussion of its 17 main findings, it becomes clear that organizations led by women and nonbinary people of color are not funded to win. As the title of the report suggests, they are expected to do more with less, and it takes a toll on their emotional, physical, and mental health.
These leaders, the report outlines, want to have relationships with foundational donors who do not just “fund them and leave them alone.”
They want to be in community with foundational partners who can help them combat burnout and other obstacles they face. They have proven themselves and they know that funders trust them to do good work, but they want to move beyond trust-based philanthropy and toward an ethic of care where they feel truly supported in the work that they do.
The report offers several recommendations to combat the obstacles women and nonbinary leaders of color face. The recommendations urge philanthropic organizations to develop authentic funding relationships with women and nonbinary people of color. They also call upon funders to invest in women and nonbinary people of color’s wellness, power, and influence.
“By listening and honoring the experiences and needs of our grantees, we contribute to the emergence of a vibrant movement that propels us toward collective liberation,” the report reads. “Together, we have the power to rewrite the narrative of philanthropy, reimagining it as an instrument of justice, compassion and lasting change.”
