Erin and I will be presenting a workshop at the 27th Annual Planned Giving Conference presented by the Northern California Planned Giving Council (NCPGC) on May 17. Here’s a description of the workshop:

DEI, Governance, and Grantmaking

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are buzzwords now receiving great attention as issues of social justice, including racial justice, have been elevated with the heated political climate and more voices calling for change.  Many nonprofit boards and leaders have expressed that their organizations are supportive of DEI principles, but, a relatively small percentage have made impactful changes to their board composition, their governing documents, their executive hiring practices, and/or their operations reflective of these values. This workshop will help attendees understand and develop strategies to incorporate DEI as core values into their governance structures and grantmaking.

The morning plenary, Shifting the Power Dynamics in Philanthropy, features Lateefah Simon, President, Akonadi Foundation, and Sam Cobbs, President, Tipping Point Community, in conversation with Steve Lew, Program Director, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services. With all of the attention on this topic, catalyzed by three notable books published last year, I look forward to this conversation.

Three Notable Books on Power Dynamics and Philanthropy from 2018

Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas

Just Giving: Why Philanthropy Is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better by Rob Reich

Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance by Edgar Villanueva

Some Highlights from the Conference

“Improving equity is to promote justice, impartiality and fairness within the procedures, processes, and distribution of resources by institutions or systems. Tackling equity issues requires an understanding of the underlying or root causes of outcome disparities within our society.” – D5

Inclusion “[r]efers to the degree to which diverse individuals are able to participate fully in the decisionmaking processes within an organization or group.” – D5

Diversity alone is neither inclusive nor a guarantee of improving equity.

Mission Without Values

Mission advancement without a values framework may mean that the mission is advanced only with respect to certain communities favored by board members, executives, and major donors, and sometimes, at the expense of other marginalized communities.

DEI deserves consideration as a core value because racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination are ingrained and institutionalized and will persist without active intervention.

Diversity on Boards. See DEI and Bylaws: Board Composition

DEI and Governing Documents. See Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Nonprofit Bylaws

DEI and Leadership; Workforce; Programs. Key steps in each of these areas include evaluation, development of strategies and plans, allocation of resources, implementation, monitoring and review.

Grantmaking. The importance of general support grants, capacity building grants (related to building equity and inclusion), grants to advocacy organizations, expenditure responsibility grants, and understanding how to manage public charity lobbying limits. See Advocacy – Public Charities.