Increasing philanthropic resources for advocacy, organizing and civic engagement
Most grantmakers are serious about making sure their giving program helps achieve their mission. Yet, there is still a sizable number of foundations and other grantmaking institutions that have not seriously considered supporting policy advocacy, community organizing and civic engagement to maximize impact. One barrier commonly cited is the difficulty in understanding or demonstrating the connection between advocacy or organizing and tangible improvements in people’s lives.
NCRP hopes to address this challenge through the Grantmaking for Community Impact Project, which will highlight the positive impact that communities have seen through funder-supported nonprofit advocacy and organizing. We will measure impact using quantitative and qualitative methods, drawing on the latest advances in advocacy evaluation, organizing outcome measurement, and the positive returns to social capital from civic engagement.
We will engage funders and community organizations in eight to ten cities, regions or states to gather information and disseminate results through local forums. We will provide useful tools for increasing philanthropic support, and identify resource persons and organizations that can provide ongoing support to current and prospective funders in these areas.
We are documenting our findings through the Strengthening Democracy, Increasing Opportunities series, which began with our report on New Mexico in December 2008. We released our study in North Carolina in May 2009.
