To Make Education Philanthropy More Equitable, Pay Attention to Who’s Getting Funded

As the executive director of The Equity Lab, and a former educator and school leader, I’ve dedicated my career to building equitable, anti-racist schools and organizations. In every aspect of my career, I’ve witnessed how systemic inequities influence all areas of social change work — and philanthropic giving is no exception. Historically, traditionally and currently, education leaders and advocates of color who attempt to navigate the world of philanthropy have often found an invitation-only environment, rife with implicit bias and structural disadvantages.

With a funding community that is largely white and wealthy, supporting schools in underresourced communities of color, these power imbalances often perpetuate the very same inequities that grants and funding opportunities are designed to combat. Through initiatives like the Equitable Giving Project, The Equity Lab and others are offering rich learnings for funders who are truly dedicated to combating inequity — by centering the lived experiences of grantseekers in their own words.

A collaborative effort with the University of Delaware’s Center for Research in Education and Social Policy (CRESP), Goodbets Group and others, the Equitable Giving Project is designed to elevate the voices of grantseekers from underrepresented backgrounds. By identifying the challenges and opportunities these leaders face in securing philanthropic funding, we aim to develop a blueprint for increasing equitable opportunities across the sector.

In 2021, the Equitable Giving Project developed and administered a comprehensive survey about the experience of seeking funding from education-focused philanthropic sources. Over 200 individuals responded to the survey, which was administered to funding applicants and partners at Camelback Ventures, 4.0 Schools and Teach For America’s Reinvention Lab.

Whereas previous research of this type has focused on the funder perspective, this is the first project of its kind to solicit feedback directly from grantseekers. The vast majority of respondents identified as members of marginalized groups — nearly 90% as people of color, more than two-thirds as women, and nearly 20% as LGBTQ+. Nearly 75% of all respondents had applied to three or more organizations for funding within the past five years.

Across the board, survey respondents believed their identities played a role in funding decisions, with racial and ethnic identity being the most commonly cited. Leaders of color perceived a distinct bias from funders against non-normative leadership styles, and a skepticism of small, minority-run organizations. Respondents also pointed to grantseeking processes that are outdated, time-consuming and confusing — and where pre-existing relationships with funders are an unspoken requirement for success. For some grantseekers, the difficulty of these processes has led them to stop applying for funding altogether, limiting their resources and narrowing the impact of their work.

Limiting what these organizations can accomplish could have wide-ranging repercussions. Research shows that students thrive when they have teachers and leaders who share their identities and experiences. Educators who come from similar backgrounds to the students and families they support can build trust, validate experiences and draw on community resources in a way that privileged outsiders often cannot. Increasing philanthropic equity not only uplifts individual leaders, but lays the foundation for sustainable community change across generations.

Over the past two years in our country — as we’ve weathered all of the economic and social consequences that accompany a pandemic — we’ve also seen an incredible opportunity for philanthropy to live up to its promise.

We saw a sector that answered the urgency of the pandemic with rapid response funding and feedback loops that included community members on the ground. And while our Equitable Giving Project is a relatively new study, the perspective it offers shines a light on the way we should have been approaching philanthropy in the first place, as we have in this time of crisis: with the voices of those most impacted at the center of strategic choices and decision-making.

So what does this look like in practice? Here are a few ways funders can expand equity in their grantmaking:

Expand opportunities beyond traditional grant applications. Offer grantseekers additional venues to demonstrate their work, such a speaker series, showcases and networking circles.
Provide mentorship, coaching and feedback. Work directly with grantseekers to refine their applications and learn from the process.
Create opportunities for broader relationship-building. Many unspoken networking opportunities depend on hallmarks of privilege, such as an elite college affiliation or a mutual acquaintance from a similar social class. Build out structured opportunities for networking with leaders outside of these circles.
Redesign the grant application process for greater accessibility. Consider streamlining your grant application steps and requirements, updating outdated processes, and offering greater transparency and guidance throughout the process.

Philanthropy’s sweeping response to COVID-19 demonstrated the sector’s latent agility. More than anything, the pandemic proved that when there is a will to move quickly, the philanthropic sector has more than enough power to do it.

The Equitable Giving Project’s conclusions are not novel, but they are a challenge and a call to action. These are the steps that philanthropic leaders must take in order to solve the systemic issues they and their organizations care about most. If the entire sector — individually, institutionally and collectively — uses these recommendations as a baseline of action, we might just, once and for all, have an opportunity to upend philanthropy’s power imbalance and build the just and equitable society we all deserve.

Michelle Molitor is the founder and executive director of The Equity Lab. Prior to founding The Equity Lab, she was the principal of E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington DC. She is also a Pahara-Aspen Fellow and a member of the Billions Institute.

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