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Catalyzing Community Giving (CCG)
Why This Work Matters
All communities possess the wisdom and knowhow to solve their own challenges. When people work together, they can become agents of change and create better, more equitable opportunities for children and families. Often their efforts rely on the resources – time, talent and treasure – that community members bring. This kind of locally driven, collective giving can be transformational.
For more than 20 years, WKKF has explored and supported the growth of philanthropy by and for communities of color. The first phase, launched in 1996, increased the understanding of the emerging field of identity-based philanthropy. The second and third phases between 2005 and 2019 grew this field further, building a community of practice among nonprofit leaders and diverse donors throughout the U.S. With more than $40 million invested in these efforts since 2005, the Kellogg Foundation is the largest single funder of identity-based funds in the United States.
Beyond just the dollars invested, what has emerged is an approach for expanding racial equity and engagement in communities of color and in the larger field of philanthropy. Communities of color are expanding and growing giving on their own terms and in ways that are meaningful, relevant and appropriate for their communities. And, this transformation is expanding further through ongoing efforts to catalyze locally driven philanthropy.
What We Support
Launched in 2014, the Catalyzing Community Giving (CCG) initiative supports communities of color in using philanthropy to become agents of their own change and to positively impact the lives of children and families in their communities.
The current cohort of more than 30 grantees are pursuing the following strategies over a three-year period (2019 to 2022):
- Donor Networks: Organizing giving circles and administering donor engagement programs
- Research & Outreach: Conducting research and collecting data on local or regional philanthropic trends; developing and sharing tools, curricula, guides and trainings for donors, potential donors and nonprofits
- Building Capacity: Developing the philanthropic capacity of communities of color; developing online platforms and mobile technologies for fundraising; utilizing evaluation technical assistance
- Engaging in Partnerships & Network Building: Creating space and time for knowledge sharing and peer learning
Grantees are located throughout the United States and in WKKF’s priority places of Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, New Orleans, Haiti and Mexico.
The result of these efforts will be more financial resources going to communities of color from communities of color and increased participation by people of color in how those resources are distributed within their community, which ultimately benefits the children and families living there.
