Seeding by Ceding | by MacKenzie Scott
Sitting down to write this post, I felt stuck. I want to de-emphasize privileged voices and cede focus to others, yet I know some media stories will focus on wealth. The headline I would wish for this post is “286 Teams Empowering Voices the World Needs to Hear.”
People struggling against inequities deserve center stage in stories about change they are creating. This is equally — perhaps especially — true when their work is funded by wealth. Any wealth is a product of a collective effort that included them. The social structures that inflate wealth present obstacles to them. And despite those obstacles, they are providing solutions that benefit us all.
Putting large donors at the center of stories on social progress is a distortion of their role. Me, Dan, a constellation of researchers and administrators and advisors — we are all attempting to give away a fortune that was enabled by systems in need of change. In this effort, we are governed by a humbling belief that it would be better if disproportionate wealth were not concentrated in a small number of hands, and that the solutions are best designed and implemented by others. Though we still have a lot to learn about how to act on these beliefs without contradicting and subverting them, we can begin by acknowledging that people working to build power from within communities are the agents of change. Their service supports and empowers people who go on to support and empower others.
Because community-centered service is such a powerful catalyst and multiplier, we spent the first quarter of 2021 identifying and evaluating equity-oriented non-profit teams working in areas that have been neglected. The result was $2,739,000,000 in gifts to 286 high-impact organizations in categories and communities that have been historically underfunded and overlooked.
Higher education is a proven pathway to opportunity, so we looked for 2- and 4-year institutions successfully educating students who come from communities that have been chronically underserved.
Discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities has been deepening, so we assessed organizations bridging divides through interfaith support and collaboration.
Arts and cultural institutions can strengthen communities by transforming spaces, fostering empathy, reflecting community identity, advancing economic mobility, improving academic outcomes, lowering crime rates, and improving mental health, so we evaluated smaller arts organizations creating these benefits with artists and audiences from culturally rich regions and identity groups that donors often overlook.
Over 700 million people globally still live in extreme poverty. To find solutions, we all benefit from on-the-ground insights and diverse engagement, so we prioritized organizations with local teams, leaders of color, and a specific focus on empowering women and girls.
We also assessed organizations focused on supporting community engagement itself. The 1.6 million non-profits in America employ 10% of our country’s workforce, and 63 million volunteers. While political pendulums swing back and forth, redistributing and re-concentrating wealth, we can choose to fund organizations with the potential to increase the impact of every dollar and hour donated by others. Social sector infrastructure organizations empower community leaders, support grassroots organizing and innovation, measure and evaluate what works, and disseminate information so that community leaders, elected officials, volunteers, employees, and donors at every level of income can make informed decisions about how to partner and invest. These organizations, which are themselves historically underfunded, also promote and facilitate service, which in turn inspires more people to serve.
We chose to make relatively large gifts to the organizations named below, both to enable their work, and as a signal of trust and encouragement, to them and to others. Would they still benefit from more (more advocates, more money, more volunteers)? Yes. Like those we shared in July and December of 2020, these 286 teams were selected through a rigorous process of research and analysis. These are people who have spent years successfully advancing humanitarian aims, often without knowing whether there will be any money in their bank accounts in two months. What do we think they might do with more cash on hand than they expected? Buy needed supplies. Find new creative ways to help. Hire a few extra team members they know they can pay for the next five years. Buy chairs for them. Stop having to work every weekend. Get some sleep.
Because we believe that teams with experience on the front lines of challenges will know best how to put the money to good use, we encouraged them to spend it however they choose. Many reported that this trust significantly increased the impact of the gift. There is nothing new about amplifying gifts by yielding control. People have been doing it in living rooms and classrooms and workplaces for thousands of years. It empowers receivers by making them feel valued and by unlocking their best solutions. Generosity is generative. Sharing makes more.
A favorite verse by Rumi captures this well:
“A candle as it diminishes explains,
Gathering more and more is not the way.
Burn, become light and heat and help. Melt.”
317 Main Community Music Center
A Place Called Home
ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities
ACCESS
Achieving the Dream
ACT Grants
Adeso
Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Fund
African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund
African Leadership Group
Afrika Tikkun
Alaska Native Heritage Center
Allied Media Projects
Alonzo King LINES Ballet
Alternate ROOTS
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Amarillo College
American Indian College Fund
American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC)
Amref Health Africa
APIA Scholars
Apollo Theater
Art for Justice Fund
Arts Administrators of Color Network
Arts for Healing and Justice Network
Arts Forward Fund
Arts Midwest
Ashé Cultural Arts Center
Ashoka Innovators for the Public
Asian American Federation
Asian American LEAD
Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy
Asian Pacific Community Fund
Asian Pacific Fund
Atlanta Music Project
Authors League Fund
AWID (Association for Women’s Rights in Development)
Ballet Hispánico
Big Thought
Black Ensemble Theater
Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD)
BoardSource
Borealis Philanthropy
· Black Led Movement Fund
· Communities Transforming Policing Fund
· Disability Inclusion Fund
· Emerging LGBTQ Leaders of Color Fund
· Racial Equity in Journalism Fund
· Racial Equity in Philanthropy Fund
· Racial Equity to Accelerate Change Fund
· Spark Justice Fund
Brazosport College
Broward College
Building Movement Project
CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities
Cal Poly Pomona
California State University Channel Islands
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Northridge
Candid
Center for Asian American Media
Center for Cultural Innovation
Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP)
Center for Evaluation Innovation
Center of Life
CFLeads
Chaffey Community College
CHANGE Philanthropy
Charity Navigator
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
Chicago’s Cultural Treasures
Child in Need Institute (CINI)
Children’s Defense Fund
Chinatown Community Development Center
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Co-Impact Gender Fund
Collage Dance Collective
College of the Desert
Common Counsel Foundation
Common Future
Community MusicWorks
CompassPoint Nonprofit Services
Constellations Culture Change Fund
CUNY Hostos Community College
Dance Theatre of Harlem
David’s Harp
Decolonizing Wealth Project
Digital Green
Donors of Color Network
DonorsChoose
Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
Dream a Dream
East Bay Fund for Artists
East West Players
El Museo del Barrio
El Paso Community College
Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy
Equal Measure
Equitable Evaluation Initiative
Equity in the Center
Esperanza Peace and Justice Center
Excelencia in Education
Exponent Philanthropy
Faith in Action
Faith in Public Life
Filantropía Puerto Rico
Firelight Media
First Peoples Fund
Flamboyan Arts Fund
Florida International University
Fondo Semillas
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grants COVID-19 Funds
FSG
Fund for Shared Insight
Funders for LGBTQ Issues
Girls First Fund
GiveDirectly
GiveIndia
GivingTuesday
GOONJ
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
GreenLight Fund
Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
HIAS
Homeboy Industries
Hyde Square Task Force
IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
IDinsight
Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN)
Institute for Transformative Technologies
Interaction Institute for Social Change
International African American Museum
Jan Sahas
Japanese American National Museum
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Junebug Productions
Jusoor
Kennedy-King College
Kepler
Kiva
L.A. Arts Endowment Fund
Lee College
Leeway Foundation
Lever for Change
Long Beach City College
Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy
Lwala Community Alliance
Magic Bus
Maine Expansion Arts Fund
Mama Foundation for the Arts
Management Leadership for Tomorrow
Mann Deshi Foundation
MDRC
Memphis Music Initiative
MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership
Metro IAF
Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
Mid-America Arts Alliance
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Mosaic Network and Fund
Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit
mothers2mothers
Motown Museum
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
Museum of Chinese in America
Muslim Advocates
Muso
Namati
National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures
National Center for Family Philanthropy
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
National Council of Nonprofits
National Equity Project
National Museum of Mexican Art
Native Americans in Philanthropy
Native Arts & Cultures Foundation
NDN Collective
Neighborhood Funders Group
Neutral Zone
New City Kids
New England Foundation for the Arts
New Profit
NGOsource
NTEN
Odessa College
Oregon Arts and Culture Recovery Fund
OutRight Action International
PA’I Foundation
Partners In Health
Pasadena City College
PEAK Grantmaking
PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund
Penumbra
Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity
Pillars Fund
Piramal Swasthya
Play On Philly
Porterville College
Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN)
ProInspire
Project Evident
Project Row Houses
Race Forward
Recess
Renaissance Youth Center
Renton Technical College
Repair the World
Repairers of the Breach
Results for America
Rise Up
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Rockwood Leadership Institute
Room to Read
Roosevelt Institute
RYSE Center
San Antonio College
San Francisco Community Health Center
San Jacinto Community College
Sanku — Project Healthy Children
Santa Barbara City College
Save The Music Foundation
Self Help Graphics & Art
Service Year Alliance
Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO)
Sins Invalid
Sipp Culture
SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action)
Social Finance
Solidaire Network
Souls Grown Deep
South Arts
Southwest Folklife Alliance
Southwest Texas Junior College
Sphinx Organization
Spy Hop
TechSoup Global
The Antara Foundation
The BOMA Project
The Bridgespan Group
The Center for Cultural Power
The Door
The Education Trust
The Freedom Fund
The Greenlining Institute
The International Association of Blacks in Dance
The Laundromat Project
The Management Center
The Nonprofit Quarterly
The Studio Museum in Harlem
The Theater Offensive
The Urban Institute
The Village of Arts and Humanities
The/Nudge Foundation
Third Sector
Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation
Tostan
Triangle Project
Ubuntu Pathways
United Philanthropy Forum
United States Artists
Unity Productions Foundation
University of California, Merced
University of Central Florida
University of Illinois Chicago
University of Texas at San Antonio
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Urban Bush Women
Urban Word NYC
Ushahidi
VolunteerMatch
West Hills College Lemoore
West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation
Western States Arts Federation
William Rainey Harper College
Wing Luke Museum
Womankind
Women’s Funding Network
Women’s Audio Mission
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA)
Youth Empowerment Project
Youth on Record
Youth Speaks
YR Media
ZUMIX