posted on: Friday, September 04, 2009

On August 27, 2009, the California Endowment announced that it will allocate $4 million in support of a statewide campaign that seeks to encourage participation in the upcoming 2010 U.S. census, especially among “hard to count” populations. As described in the press release, these populations include some of the state’s “most vulnerable residents – low-income communities and communities of color.” It also noted that California houses 10 of the country’s 50 hardest to count counties, which are “home to large populations that have been historically underrepresented in the census, including immigrants, people of color, low-income communities, rural areas and those who live in multi-family housing.” The Endowment’s work will target explicitly these 10 communities in an effort to bolster participation among these historically marginalized groups.

Kudos to the California Endowment for recognizing the importance of counting each person for the Census for all the reasons mentioned in the press release. And even more, I applaud this grantmaker for focusing its efforts on the ten counties with those populations that would otherwise remain excluded.

Social inclusion is important for so many reasons and it has the power to bring us all together in ways that benefit all our communities. Being counted is the first step toward being included in a community or a society. If focusing on underrepresented communities in ten counties in California has the kind of ripple effect on various facets of wellbeing described in the press release, what would the world look like if all foundations identified explicitly the intended beneficiaries of their grants, prioritizing the most vulnerable in their work? Maybe those most disenfranchised one day wouldn’t be so hard to count.

I’m also encouraged by the fact that the Endowment will work collaboratively with other funders. Dr. Robert K. Ross, president and CEO of the Endowment praised the California Community Foundation, which announced recently that it would fund nonprofits working to encourage census participation in Los Angeles. One of this community foundation’s guiding principles is a commitment to collaboration because problems are best addressed when ordinary citizens are civically engaged and included in the process of addressing challenges, along with institutions and communities. That’s exactly why we began our Grantmaking for Community Impact Project – we all benefit when ordinary citizens are civically active and engaged.

The Funders Census Initiative is a great example of foundations working collaboratively. This self-described ad hoc working group is “committed to stimulating interest in the 2010 Census among funders and their grantees. It strives to move both groups to support, contribute, and engage in efforts for a fair and accurate decennial count, with a focus on hard-to-count communities.”

These are very encouraging trends in philanthropy during a challenging time for our sector. If more members of our civic sector begin to see the value of working in relationship rather than in isolation, we could bolster our impact and ride out the current challenges we’re facing.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in our comments!

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