The Pulse of Fundraising – January 2020

Pulse of Fundraising

Midsize Nonprofits Show Greatest Progress Closing CEO Gender Pay and Leadership Gaps, Study Shows3.1% median salary increase for women CEOs of midsize charities from 2016 to 2017

Nonprofits with annual budgets of $25 million to $50 million are making the greatest progress toward closing the gender pay gap for CEOs, according to the latest “GuideStar Nonprofit Compensation Report.”

The median salary increased for female CEOs at those charities by 3.1 percent from 2016 to 2017, compared with 0.1% for men. That group also saw the proportion of female CEOs grow from 20 percent to 30 percent from 2005 to 2017.

 

People sitting at a table on their computersWhat Does It Look Like to Support Women of Color to Lead?

Don’t miss this fascinating interview with Wilnelia Rivera, former chief strategist and advisor to Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, and former Director of External Affairs in Governor Deval Patrick’s administration. 

For Rivera, this starts with hiring. When building a team for a woman of color leader, she looks for people that understand that working for a woman of color is not about working for the person that inspires them. She says, “I’m looking for someone who’s going to work harder than the woman of color.”

Rivera refers to Erykah Badu’s song “Bag Lady” to illustrate. “I need to hire people who understand that their job is to relieve her of one of those bags. That’s what she needs. Someone who will remove the pressure, the burden, not add more.”

For Rivera, supporting women of color leaders also means that her role is often to act like a buffer between her and her team, so that she can focus on leading. She says, “Too often, when women of color are the leaders, we expect them to do everything. We want them to manage the emotional labor. We want then to create the systems. We want then to execute the work.”

She says, “We need to deconstruct what we’re asking of leaders. We need to create a culture where we’re asking other people to step up. We can’t build systems that ask women of color to do more with less. That’s actually what we do. Every single time! We’ve always created change with less. Imagine what we could do if we were supported.”


What We’re Reading (and Listening to!) This Month

Inching Toward Equity from The Chronicle of PhilanthropyBeads with letters on them. Several lined up to spell out

Grant makers want to be sure their giving does more to benefit people of color, but progress is slow.

“While there isn’t hard data, experts agree that very few grant dollars go to groups led by people of color…

Foundations are trying hard to change their ways. In recent years, many more grant makers have named “racial equity” as a goal. In part, it’s a response to the growth of widespread racial- justice movements sparked by high-profile accounts of overt racism and police violence, including the deaths of Freddie Gray and Trayvon Martin. Foundations are intensifying work to make their grant making and staffs more reflective of the racial and ethnic makeup of the country and more supportive of groups led by people of color.

They hope to overcome their own histories of racial insensitivity — or outright exclusion — and move beyond an era when many believed that making grants without considering race would result in the most effective use of their money.

Change is slow and incremental. But it is happening.”

 

Watering can pouring out water onto flowersAddressing Equity and Social Change Through Corporate and Individual Philanthropy

Give big, give now, give smart, and give to address inequity: a conversation on making the most of your generosity with Jeff Raikes, co-founder of the Raikes Foundation; Fred Kaynor, vice president of business development and marketing at Schwab Charitable; and Michael Voss, publisher of SSIR.

 

How to be an Antiracist: Reflections for Philanthropy

Borealis Philanthropy LogoIn September, Borealis Philanthropy, the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, and Northern California Grantmakers (NCG) co-hosted an event, Belonging in Practice: How to be an Antiracist, with Ibram X. Kendi, one of America’s leading antiracist voices and the author of How to Be an Antiracist.

Following his talk, Kendi was joined by john a. powell of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society and Lateefah Simon of the Akonadi Foundation for a conversation moderated by Alice Y. Hom of Northern California Grantmakers.

During the conversation, Hom, Kendi, powell, and Simon discussed how to dismantle racism and address our sins through an antiracist lens, touching on themes including power, grace, empathy, and more.

Share this post: