Does the COVID 19 pandemic offer an opportunity for change in Canadian philanthropy? And if so, what and how? It’s much too soon to tell, probably. But it’s interesting to note the observations made in the last week by U.S foundations that this is the time for radical response. It’s not too soon to say that the shutdown of our society and economy by the pandemic will lead to major shifts in the non-profit sector, certainly in the short to medium term. There will be a need to rethink financing structures, work practices, collaborations etc. This forces a response not only for the next two months but probably for the next year and beyond.
Seizing the opportunity, the Ford Foundation and the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project of which Ford is a sponsor proposed a “pledge of action” for changed practices among foundations. This pledge commits foundations to 8 principles for funding and relationships with community partners and grantees:
Remarkably, this pledge has now been signed by over 200 foundations (and counting). It’s a stunning example of collective response from the foundation sector. Funders can provide desperately needed funds…and do so much more!
(By the way I would add a 9th principle: Commit new funding to the umbrella and intermediary organizations that help to lift up the collective voices of the sector at national and regional and local levels.)
What is fascinating about this is to see the rapid mobilization of American funders around a set of practices that funder organizations such as Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, individual foundations such as Ford, observers such as Vu Le, centres such as the Centre for Effective Philanthropy and collective projects such as the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project have been advocating for a few years. This is the reply both to the growing critique of elitist foundation practices and to the increasing realization of the effectiveness of diversity, inclusion and participation practices. So this may be the spur to fundamental change in philanthropic practice across a wide group of American funders. This is certainly what Ford (which led the way with its BUILD program) and others are hoping now. Note the 8th principle
“Learn from these emergency practices and share what they teach us about effective partnership and philanthropic support, so we may consider adjusting our practices more fundamentally in the future, in more stable times, based on all we learn.”
It takes a crisis to create a turning point. Is this a turning point for Canadian funders as well?
What stops us from creating (or adapting) and signing a similar pledge? What stops us from considering how to act collectively not only to support short term emergency response to community need but also to re-evaluate practices for the long term? Philanthropic Foundations Canada is informing Canadian funders about COVID 19 responses through a new weekly digest. It could work with Community Foundations of Canada and other funder groups to move us towards a reconsideration of giving practices during and perhaps after the pandemic.
Meanwhile we are seeing some creative examples of collective response to the pandemic. The National Center for Family Philanthropy in the US is offering an interactive map and continually growing list of resources for funders re COVID 19. We can do this for Canada! Here are just a few funds and resources already available for Canadian funders:
Locally
National and Issue-Based
International (for Canadian funders)
Charity Village is putting together a list of umbrella and intermediary groups working on COVID 19 response for the charitable sector as a whole.
“The path forward is to realize that we do have power, even in the face of something that makes us feel incredibly small, and that it lies where it always has—in remembering that we are in this thing together and in finding ways to embrace our collective responsibility and accountability to each other.” – Grant Oliphant, Heinz Endowments.
We are in this together. This is the key message of what is happening in this pandemic. Governments and public health experts are asking us to do what is necessary for us all not just for each of us. This is a remarkable time. People are realizing in very specific ways how important their actions are to the welfare of others. Most who work in the charitable or community sector think about this in their daily work. But it isn’t front and centre in the public awareness. So it’s a shock when we are all confronted at the same time with the need to behave for the public, not the private, good. We are in this together…..and we are called on to give up something for others. Freedom of movement, social gathering, collective enjoyment. It’s mind-bending but necessary.
More than this, philanthropy is called on to do what is necessary, what must be done for the public good. As my colleague Krystian Seibert in Australia has noted, this is the time for philanthropy to be at its best. This is scary. And for foundations especially as the stock markets wipe out enormous value in endowments, it is very scary. This is as challenging as in 2008. Perhaps more. But just as we were summoned in 2009 to step up and commit to community partners, not to reduce funding commitments but to maintain and even increase them, we are called on again to step up. And we have so many tools and supports today that we did not have even in 2009.
“Maintaining community lifelines and safety nets are one of the most important contributions of the philanthropic community”. This is from an excellent webinar on the pandemic and how philanthropy can respond , from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. The CDP offers great resources to help foundations think through their strategies in this unprecedented situation.
Foundation leaders are also giving us some moral direction as they step up their leadership. Comments from the Barr Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Gates Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, the McConnell Foundation, the Hallman Foundation, the Lawson Foundation tell us: What must philanthropy do in this crisis?
This last point is so crucial. Infrastructure strengthens the organizations that weaken in the face of this terrible barrage by providing information, creating connections, advocating and lobbying. Imagine Canada, the Ontario Nonprofit Network and others are doing everything they can to keep the sector informed and to remind governments that sector organizations need extraordinary support to get through this crisis, just as small businesses and individuals do. They need help to do this work.
The financial and economic consequences of this crisis will fall heavily on the charitable sector. Foundations must be there to help for months and maybe years to come. We got through 2008-2009 together. We can get through this together too. But with courage and commitment. We must not flinch or fail. We are accountable to each other.