As the South Grows

GETTING STARTED

Are you ready to engage in high-impact philanthropy in the South? Here is a quick guide that applies the Do’s and Don’ts and suggests resources from the region.

We understand that the recommendations from Southern leaders are ambitious, so we’ve included some first steps and a list of people and organizations to turn to for help. They are a good jumping off point, and they can point to other Southerners who will be able to help, too.

1. UNDERSTAND CONTEXT, BUILD AUTHENTIC TRANSFORMATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS.

2. APPRECIATE COLLECTIVE POWER. EXPLORE ADVOCACY FUNDING AS A COMPLEMENTARY STRATEGY TO FUNDING DIRECT SERVICE.

3. FOCUS ON SHARED GOALS AND VALUE DIFFERENT APPROACHES. SET “BIG TABLE” INCLUSIVE ENOUGH FOR DIVERSE LOCAL AND NATIONAL PARTNERS.

4. MAKE LONG-TERM, FLEXIBLE COMMITMENTS OF CAPITAL, TIME AND CAPACITY.

WHAT’S NEXT?

In 2016, hundreds of nonprofit leaders and community advocates gathered at the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth & Reconciliation, jamming that room outside Ainka’s office in sight of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The 51^st Anniversary Jubilee had just concluded and the national philanthropic and civic leaders it attracted had begun their journey back home. Those Southern nonprofit leaders stayed in Selma, though, because they had work to do.

Across the Deep South – where building democratic accountability and collective power for disenfranchised communities was once a globally recognized specialty – there are exciting opportunities for philanthropic investment. If Southern and national funders as well as individual donors come together and identify specific places and causes that align with their values, Southern leaders in the Deep South can and will change their communities for the better.

Building collective power in Southern communities is the seed for a fruitful harvest of equitable change in the South. But, without philanthropic support to build assets and institutions for marginalized communities, power quickly can be eroded by those opposed to shared prosperity.

How can foundations and donors support the work of building community assets and institutions that can protect those assets, especially in parts of the South undergoing dramatic economic transition? Find out in the next report in the “As the South Grows” series when we explore asset-building work underway in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and the Coalfield of Eastern Kentucky.

Photo by DXR. Under under Creative Commons license.