June 12, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute
Understanding Social Justice Philanthropy, by John Hunsaker and Brenda Hanzl, encourages foundations to use their grants not just to provide food to the hungry and medical care to uninsured people, but ultimately to reduce, or even eliminate, the problems of needy people. Mr. Hunsaker, a research associate and director of the social-justice research project at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, in Washington, and Ms. Hanzl, a former research intern at the organization, define “social-justice philanthropy” as projects that try to determine the causes of discrimination and poverty, and create opportunities for needy people to earn a better living and become advocates for themselves when public policy is being made. They suggest that grant makers conduct research to uncover the causes of social problems, provide grants and management advice to support nonprofit organizations’ lobbying efforts, and help grass-roots groups collaborate with each other. The report also describes some of the obstacles that can prevent foundations from engaging in such projects, including a desire to support direct social services and concerns about violating restrictions on lobbying activities by tax-exempt organizations.
Publisher: National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, 2001 S Street, N.W., Suite 620, Washington, D.C. 20009; (202) 387-9177; fax (202) 332-5804; info@ncrp.org; http://www.ncrp.org; 31 pages; Available free for download at the committee’s Web page.
