| For Immediate Release 2/9/2004 |
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| NCRP RELEASES NEW REPORT ON ‘COMMUNITY-BASED PUBLIC FOUNDATIONS' | |||
| Study Finds Small but Vibrant Funders Committed to Grassroots Social Change | |||
| WASHINGTON - The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy today released a new report on "community-based public foundations" or CBPFs, a subsector within philanthropy committed to funding grassroots social-change organizations and promoting long-term social change. The report, authored by NCRP Executive Director Rick Cohen, was underwritten by a grant from Changemakers, a national public foundation that models and supports community-based philanthropy. "Community-based public foundations may not make up a large slice of philanthropy - but they serve as a yardstick by which more conventional funders can assess how their own practices can more effectively support grassroots social change organizing," said Cohen. "Our study suggests that CBPFs constitute a force in philanthropy that adds up to more than the sum of its parts." "This NCRP report on community-based public foundations shows what Changemakers has long believed, that social justice grantmaking is vibrant, innovative, and showing new ways for foundations and individual donors to address the critical issues of our society," Laura Loescher, Changemakers' Director of Programs added. "Our plan at Changemakers is to use this report to stimulate a nationwide discussion on how foundations and donors can mobilize themselves to promote social and economic equity by emulating the models highlighted in this study." The NCRP report studied 192 community-based public foundations that raised more the $202 million and gave out more than $94 million in grants and assistance in fiscal year 2001. Two-thirds of the surveyed CBPFs identified civil and human rights as their top priorities for grantmaking followed by community organizing, poverty and inequality, and gender issues. Nearly 4 out of 5 CBPFs use social investment screens for their investment portfolios and more than half devoted 100 percent of their assets to socially responsible corporate investments. - more - NCRP News Release Monday, Feb. 9, 2004 Page 2 of 2 NCRP's new report - Community-Based Public Foundations: Small Beacons for Big Ideas - can be viewed online at www.ncrp.org and print editions can be ordered from NCRP for a cost of $25 per copy ($12.50 for current NCRP members, free to journalists). Credit card orders can be placed by calling NCRP at (202) 387-9177. Otherwise, checks or money orders should be made payable to NCRP and mailed to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, 2001 S Street NW, Suite 620, Washington, DC 20009. Purchaser's name, address, organizational affiliation, phone, fax and e-mail address, as well as the name and quantity of the desired publication, should be included to ensure proper processing. Founded in 1976, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy is dedicated to helping the philanthropic community advance the traditional values of social and economic justice for all Americans. Committed to helping funders more effectively serve the most disadvantaged Americans, NCRP is a national watchdog, research and advocacy organization that promotes public accountability and accessibility among foundations, corporate grantmakers, individual donors and workplace giving programs. For more information on NCRP or to join, please visit www.ncrp.org or call (202) 387-9177. |
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