Appendix A: How does NCRP define “underserved communities” and “social justice grantmaking”?

USA map multicultural group of young people integration diversity isolated

NCRP looked at the list of beneficiaries tracked by the Foundation Center and identified the following populations as “underserved:”

  • Children
  • Domestic workers
  • Economically disadvantaged people
  • Immigrants and refugees
  • Incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people
  • LGBTQ people
  • People of color
  • People with disabilities
  • People with HIV/AIDS
  • Sex workers
  • Victims of crime and abuse
  • Women and girls

NCRP helped to craft the Foundation Center’s definition of social justice philanthropy: the granting of philanthropic contributions to nonprofit organizations based in the United States and other countries that work for structural change in order to increase the opportunity of those who are the least well off politically, economically and socially.

We used the following Foundation Center codes to identify grant dollars in support of social justice efforts:

  • Equal opportunity in education
  • Environmental justice
  • Climate change
  • Health care access
  • Advocacy journalism
  • Open data
  • Media access and policy (includes internet neutrality and addressing the digital divide)
  • Democracy (includes civic participation, election regulation, campaign finance reform, political organization, voter education and registration, and public integrity)
  • Community organizing
  • Anti-predatory lending
  • Human rights (includes reproductive rights, privacy rights, right of speech and association, freedom of religion, right to marry, environmental rights, voter rights, labor rights, freedom of information, economic justice etc.)
  • Youth organizing
  • Immigration Law
  • Housing Law
  • Public Interest Law
  • Systems reform

Appendix B:

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