posted on: Thursday, May 14, 2009

by Lisa Ranghelli

North Carolina stands out for its especially favorable organizing climate. As the 2008 elections signaled, the state is undergoing a major political shift, with growing cities and a rising new immigrant population creating a new organizing landscape.

- Institute for Southern Studies

When nonprofit organizations and foundations partner to tackle urgent issues in North Carolina, they can achieve tremendous success—especially when they use public policy advocacy and engage affected constituencies in the problem-solving process.

- National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

Two reports released within weeks of each other point to promising signs in North Carolina. The Institute for Southern Studies recently published Social Justice Organizing in the South. The Institute produced the report with support from the Hill-Snowdon Foundation and New World Foundation, as part of the Southern Scan Research Project. The report looked at demographic, economic, political and social justice organizing trends in six southern states: Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina. The Institute’s research concluded that North Carolina stood out as holding potential for foundations to have an impact in the South through support for social justice organizing. The authors found that North Carolina is strategically important because of its political, economic and social role in the South; its favorable climate and infrastructure of support for organizing; and its density of strong existing and emerging social justice organizations that have a track record of impact.

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy just released Strengthening Democracy, Increasing Opportunities: Impacts of Advocacy, Organizing and Civic Engagement in North Carolina. This report, authored by me and Julia Craig, documented the advocacy and organizing impacts of 13 organizations over a five year period, with impressive results. The research demonstrated that, collectively, the groups achieved at least $1.8 billion in monetary benefits for North Carolinians. These benefits included new wages for workers, affordable housing for the elderly and disabled, health services for the uninsured and individuals with HIV/AIDS, and jobs and job training for youth, just to give a few examples. (Another example can be found in my recent blog post.)

The report found that the groups collectively devoted $20.4 million to their advocacy and organizing efforts, providing a monetary return on investment of $89 for each dollar invested in these strategies. Many nonmonetary impacts were equally significant, including cleaner air and water, reduced exposure to toxic chemicals for agricultural workers and school children, and hospital visitation rights for same-sex caregivers. The civic engagement return on investment was also important, as the groups engaged tens of thousands of ordinary residents in the democratic process, building bridges across race, class, ethnicity, age, gender and other divides.

Both reports highlighted the important role philanthropy plays in North Carolina. In discussing the favorable climate for organizing, the Institute’s Southern Scan noted that “North Carolina also has a strong social justice infrastructure, including funders like The Babcock Foundation and Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation…” The report also mentioned the A.J. Fletcher Foundation and some community foundations as supporters of social justice organizing in the state. The NCRP report found that 86 percent of the funding that the 13 groups collectively allocated to advocacy and organizing—$17.5 million over five years—came from foundations. Philanthropic support was critical to their success.

Yet, both reports also found that much more foundation investment is needed to take advantage of the opportunities for change in North Carolina. The Southern Scan noted that among six southern states, there are only four foundations with annual giving of $1 million or more that devote “significant resources” to social justice organizing. Thus, organizations remain somewhat dependent on national and non-Southern funding sources that may be less familiar with historical dynamics unique to the region and with the capacity needs of local communities. The NCRP report found that many organizations doing important work and engaging marginalized constituencies are severely under-resourced, often operating with little or no paid staff. This was particularly true in the rural eastern part of the state.

Together, these two reports paint a picture of great accomplishment and greater potential, hinging on enough philanthropic support to solidify capacity. Ripe fruit for the picking.

Lisa Ranghelli is senior research associate at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) and lead author of Strengthening Democracy, Increasing Opportunities: Impacts of Advocacy, Organizing and Civic Engagement in North Carolina.