Gun Violence

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In 2020, more than 45,000 Americans died of gun-related injuries, including nearly 20,000 murders. This was the highest number of gun deaths ever recorded in the U.S. Guns are now the leading cause of death for children in the U.S., and for several years, the nation has averaged almost two mass shootings a day. These alarming numbers have fueled demands for stricter gun safety measures and violence prevention efforts. Yet preventing gun violence in America is a thorny problem that has often thwarted advocates, activists and philanthropists, who face a number of hurdles, including powerful opposition to gun safety legislation by a well-funded firearms lobby.

Gun violence prevention is significantly underfunded by philanthropy, especially given the scope of the problem. For donors who want to make a difference, there are ample opportunities to support important work. This is an evolving area of philanthropy that connects to giving for criminal justice reform, public health, community development and safety, and other issues. This brief offers strategies, insights and advice for donors who want to do something about gun violence. 

Strategies for Impact

Nonprofits are engaged in a range of efforts to prevent gun violence. All of this work could benefit from greater donor support. Below, we discuss areas where donors might focus their funding and spotlight several organizations in each that represent the kind of nonprofits that donors might consider supporting.   

  • Fund advocacy and organizing to advance and defend stricter gun laws. Donors who are comfortable backing advocacy on a contentious political issue have many opportunities to support a broad movement for stricter gun safety laws, including work at the state and local levels, where policy changes are sometimes much easier to enact. Two well-known national organizations focused on gun reform laws are The Brady Campaign and Giffords. Every Town for Gun Safety takes a multipronged approach that includes grassroots movement building, research and awareness raising, and advocacy. There is also the option of supporting groups focused purely on the state and local level, like the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence. 

  • Give for violence prevention and intervention. While limiting access to firearms may be the most important factor in preventing gun deaths, violence will continue to exist until we address its root causes. This is increasingly happening through community-based efforts such as the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities and Chicago CRED in Chicago, and the national Black Brown Peace Consortium. Cure Violence tries to apply public health strategies to violence intervention at the community level. And the holistic approach of Sandy Hook Promise brings violence prevention to schools, homes and communities. 

  • Support research. While gun violence has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S., there has been a dearth of public health research into the subject. This is because in 1996, Congress passed what was known as the Dickey Amendment, barring the Centers for Disease Control from funding research that could be used to advocate for gun control. Out of an abundance of caution, the CDC stopped all funding for research into gun violence until 2018, when Congress clarified the law. That two-decade-plus ban has been a major setback to research on gun violence. Donors can help to close the gap by supporting research organizations such as the National Collaborative for Gun Violence Research, a program currently housed at the RAND Corporation, and the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

Insights and Advice

In considering which impact strategies to support, donors should take into account their personal interests and outlook to find the best fit. They should also keep an eye out for emerging opportunities to give with maximum impact to prevent gun violence. Here, we offer a few insights and suggestions:

  • Don’t go it alone. Intermediaries can do a huge amount of the leg work of identifying opportunities in the field, and getting involved with one of these groups is a great way for donors to save time and give more effectively. Relevant groups include Fund for a Safer Future and the California-focused Hope and Heal Fund, which takes a public health, racial equity, and community-based approach to gun violence prevention. The Community Justice Reform Coalition, a pooled fund at the Tides Foundation, was created by activists and survivors of violence to support and empower directly impacted communities. 

  • Make multi-year, unrestricted gifts. While gun violence tends to grab headlines and dominate news coverage after mass shootings, focus on guns rises and falls rapidly with the news cycle. These peaks and valleys are not necessarily correlated with more or less progress on combating gun violence. This is especially true on the federal level, where progress on almost any issue is mostly stilted. Making progress on guns will not be easy, and donors should invest with an eye to the long term, giving nonprofits the flexible and reliable funding they need to respond to changes, challenges and opportunities as they arise.

  • Focus on local or state-level efforts. Because of the stalemate in meaningful gun reforms at the federal level, many states and cities have taken it upon themselves to prevent the spread of firearms and stem the gun violence epidemic. States including Connecticut and California have enacted “red flag” laws to disarm individuals considered a threat to themselves or others. To the extent Congress has been able to move the ball forward, they have likewise focused on supporting state actions, enacting legislation in 2022 to give some $750 million to state violence prevention efforts, including red flag programs.

  • Give for violence prevention as a whole. Violence prevention as a whole is underfunded by philanthropy. Advocates and donors increasingly understand that gun violence cannot be addressed in a silo, as it is interrelated with other forms of violence, such as domestic and gender-based violence. Donors can make a difference by giving for violence prevention holistically, supporting groups that are addressing root causes as well as the multiple intersecting issues that lead to gun violence. 

For Donors Getting Started

With violence continuing at epidemic levels in the U.S., donors have good reason to make gun violence a major part of their giving portfolio. Crucial work at all levels to prevent gun violence remains woefully underfunded. Donors can see this as an opportunity for their giving to make a serious, much-needed difference. 

Donors who are new to this space should take the time to learn about the landscape. A good place to start is IP’s State of American Philanthropy report on violence prevention. In addition, peruse recent articles that IP has published about what’s happening in this area of philanthropy. Some of the organizations mentioned above offer reports and articles that can help donors understand the issue, such as the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research. Donors can give alongside like-minded peers through funder collaboratives such as the Fund for a Safer Future or the California-based Hope and Heal Fund.

Have suggestions for improving this brief? Please email us at editor@insidephilanthropy.com.