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Defining equitable access begins at home 

A compass along lines that form into a road

Roughly 10% of U.S. nonprofits are led by individuals from Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color, yet they only receive about 4% of grant dollars annually. The reasons for this are many, but it is no coincidence that over 90% of foundation CEOs are white. Organizations led by individuals of color face barriers to funding that their white-led counterparts simply do not, resulting in significantly less financial support. 

Candid is in the unique position of serving as the most comprehensive data source for the social sector. Every day, people look to Candid for data on more than 1.8 million U.S.-based nonprofits and 164,000 funders to help them do good. It is our responsibility to maintain the quality of this vast data collection, but it’s just as important to ensure those who are impacted by pervasive funding disparities can access and use it to deliver on their missions. 

Reducing funding inequities is a long-term project that begins at home. Through Go for the Gold, a promotion we made permanent last year, organizations with budgets under $1 million can access Foundation Directory for free when they maintain a Gold Seal of Transparency through their Candid nonprofit profile. When a nonprofit claims and updates their profile, they can then easily share the link to it with potential funders to tell their story, without needing to build a website.  

To further support nonprofits in making the case for funding, we encourage them to share their organizational leadership’s demographic makeup. This makes it easy for funders centering equity in their grantmaking strategy to find grantees led by and reflective of the communities they serve (learn more at candid.org/dvc). Finally, in early 2023, we will offer virtually all capacity-building trainings at no cost to individuals. This shift acknowledges that cost should not be a barrier for nonprofit leaders to build the skills they need to best serve their communities. 

These steps are a solid start to chipping away at pervasive inequities in funding practices. To further this work and deepen our commitment, Candid has formed a new Equitable Access department. This team of experienced, creative, and thoughtful folks is committed to ensuring historically marginalized nonprofits have the same opportunity as their well-resourced peers to secure funding. The team’s emerging strategy will guide our efforts to reduce barriers to funding already identified through a well-established body of research: a lack of social capital, lower visibility among funders and donors, limited capacity, and institutional and interpersonal bias. 

These are positive developments, but moving the needle on equitable access to funding will require some big swings. We need to explore how we create more opportunities for Black and other leaders of color by directly connecting them with more funders, and how we can encourage funders to move beyond their current grantee portfolios and provide support with fewer or no restrictions. No solution will be perfect, and we do not have all the answers for how to eliminate the deeply entrenched, historic barriers Black, Indigenous, and people of color-led organizations continue to face. That we have created the space within Candid to step back and focus on the problem reinforces the organization’s willingness to harness our collective knowledge of the sector to direct funding to the places where it will do most good. 

Defining equitable access begins at home” is reprinted from Candid’s 2023 Annual Report.

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  • Kate, Digital Communications Manager, Candid says:

    March 31, 2023 9:42 am

    Candid does not suggest specific funders or approach them on your behalf. But we can point you to resources that should help you in your funding search. You can check out our Knowledge Base for information on getting grants and finding donors: https://learning.candid.org/resources/knowledge-base/sort/popularity_desc_num/topic/fundraising/

  • Kate, Digital Communications Manager, Candid says:

    March 31, 2023 9:42 am

    Candid does not suggest specific funders or approach them on your behalf. But we can point you to resources that should help you in your funding search. You can check out our Knowledge Base for information on getting grants and finding donors: https://learning.candid.org/resources/knowledge-base/sort/popularity_desc_num/topic/fundraising/

  • Robet Burch says:

    March 30, 2023 6:40 pm

    Thanks, David.

    Robert Burch, Executive Director, Sema Hadithi African American Heritage and Culture Foundation.

  • Rev. Coleman says:

    March 30, 2023 5:54 pm

    Kudos to Candid and their forward, problem-solving, good-natured, thinking. I look forward to a strong partnership and will access the webinars as often as possible.

  • Joshua Boota Aslam says:

    March 30, 2023 3:48 pm

    Hi Dear Sir. David Rosado,
    I hope you and your family will be fine there in the Jesus's NAME. I am praying here for you and your all team of Candid. Our Foundation is very hard working and did their work very faithfully in Lahore, Pakistan. We run our Foundation by ourselves. We are helping with Children Biblical Education, Young Girls for Sewing Center & Widow Women Servicing and Poor Community as well. If you have time please visit here. We have hundred to thousand villages here. These are survive living life very critical conditions. We have place for Church, School and Sewing Center but I cannot build it.
    We are inviting you from the bottom of our hearts here. Will you come here? We are waiting for your reply!
    Thanks,

    May the LORD bless you more and more!
    With all my 💕,

    Joshua Boota Aslam

  • Kate, Digital Communications Manager, Candid says:

    March 30, 2023 11:14 am

    Hi Mark, you can reach out to [email protected] with any questions about the program. They will be able to help!

  • Drayton Jackson says:

    March 30, 2023 10:31 am

    Thank you for this article. As an organization that is 95% run and controlled by people of color, I understand the barriers and sometimes biases that go into trying to get grants, but what I also see is very interesting is unlike my white counterparts, when we do fill out for Grants I noticed that there are always different questions that are being asked from the grantees where white organizations that I know do not get asked to follow up questions as we do.

    Thank you for making steps towards Equitable practices

  • Peter says:

    March 30, 2023 9:57 am

    Your work is exemplary and good to be emulated .

  • Pancrace Mbazumutima says:

    March 30, 2023 9:39 am

    My name is Pancrace Mbazumutima from the Kingdom of Eswatini ( Swaziland ) I have a project that I want to start and I need someone to help me with the funds . I want to start a workshop where I will be servicing and repairing the vehicles and I need the equipments and Rent at least for the first six months .
    My phone number is 00268 76118201

    Thanks

  • Mark Dionne says:

    March 30, 2023 9:03 am

    This sounds like a super program! We have an annual budget under $1,000,000 but was wondering if we could circumvent the credit card requirement. We would not want to be under a future obligation to pay for this service, or be charged by mistake if an error would occur.

    Thank you for this extension and hope to hear back from you soon,

    Sincerely,

    Mark

  • Sanna Roling says:

    March 30, 2023 8:47 am

    Awesome. Just knowing I a get to the Foundation directory for free is worth it's weight in gold to me. Dream Catcher Stables Inc budget is just under $58,000 a year and we ARE an ALL VOLUNTEER public charity.

  • Okia Juma says:

    March 30, 2023 7:02 am

    I thank u for the perfect development brought in by candid
    Maintain the same

  • Fericka says:

    March 30, 2023 6:47 am

    I'm ready to start a non-profit organization based on my skin condition vitiligo. To help beginners cope with condition & let them know we are beautiful God's work of art.