"Less than 1 percent of philanthropic dollars in the United States explicitly benefit Native Americans, and Native-led organizations receive only half of that. When Nicholas Banovetz joined Better Way Foundation as executive director in 2022, he helped to steer a shift in its grantmaking. The family foundation, guided by Catholic values and devoted to early childhood education, opted to focus 100 percent of its giving on Native communities."
"How might this change? Native Americans in Philanthropy recently partnered with The Bridgespan Group on a report, The Impact and Opportunity of Investing in Native Communities, that interviewed more than 40 Native leaders to investigate this question. One theme we heard repeatedly is that truly transformative change begins when non-Native philanthropy embraces Indigenous values and ways into its own work."
"Scholars such as LaDonna Harris (Comanche Nation), founder and president of Americans for Indian Opportunity, have identified and documented characteristics of Indigeneity, which she defines as being centered on the values of reciprocity, responsibility, relationships, and redistribution. Native Americans in Philanthropy, building on the work of International Funders for Indigenous Peoples, has adapted these hallmarks into its philanthropic framework. We call them the five Rs (adding "respect" to the four Rs set forth by Harris)."
Less than one percent of philanthropic dollars in the United States explicitly benefit Native Americans, and Native-led organizations receive only half of that. Only twenty percent of large foundations give to Native communities or causes. Better Way Foundation shifted to focus 100 percent of its giving on Native communities under executive director Nicholas Banovetz. Native Americans in Philanthropy partnered with The Bridgespan Group and interviewed more than forty Native leaders, finding that transformative change begins when non-Native philanthropy embraces Indigenous values and ways. LaDonna Harris’s hallmarks—reciprocity, responsibility, relationships, and redistribution—were adapted into a five Rs framework by adding respect.
Read at Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
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