The environmental justice movement is perhaps the most underfunded social movement by the philanthropic community in the United States. Just twelve foundations provided the majority of support between 1996-1999, according to Daniel R. Faber, associate professor of sociology at Northeastern University and Deborah McCarthy, assistant professor in the of Sociology and anthropology at the College of Charleston. In Green of Another Color: Building Effective Partnerships between Foundations and the Environmental Justice Movement Faber and McCarthy emphasize that the environmental justice movement is vital to constructing a more inclusive, democratic, and pro-active environmental movement in the U.S. Their research study presents the findings of a year-and-a-half long analysis of the relationship between philanthropy and so-called green politics.

Green of Another Color, a report by the Philanthropy and Environmental Justice Research Project, is an important educational tool for current and potential funders of the environmental justice movement. Targeted specifically for foundation staff, officers, board members, and individual donors, it presents an historical analysis of the accomplishments of the environmental justice movement over the last ten years. The study demonstrates the underfunding of the movement by the philanthropic community in general and environmental grantmakers association members in comparison to other segments of the environmental movement. It also offers recommendations to environmental grantmakers and evaluates how they can better utilize their clout to support the work of the environmental justice movement beyond just the disbursement of grants.

Green of Another Color is part of the working paper series of the Nonprofit Sector Research Fund, a nonprofit organization that raises funds and awards grants to scholars and researchers studying the nonprofit sector. Faber and McCarthy organize the report into five distinct sections. Each section can stand alone, or together, form a cohesive and comprehensive resource. The reader also has an option of reviewing key points in an executive summary. Section one provides a history of the environmental justice movement past and present; section two describes in detail the lack of funding for the environmental justice movement and includes recommendations for how foundations can increase their level of support; section three makes recommendations for exemplary grantmaking practices; section four emphasizes the importance of diversity issues in relation to the environmental justice movement; and section five explains actions which foundations can undertake beyond just dispersing funds. Each section includes sidebars that highlight specific community-based organizations and programs as well as a summary of recommendations for the philanthropic community.

In Green of Another Color, Faber and McCarthy support the idea that the environmental justice movement is critical to the larger effort of creating a more broadly based, democratic, and effective ecology movement in the United States. Environmental grantmakers can play a key role in facilitating the transformation of "green politics" in order to build a more just and ecological sound society.

For citations of additional materials on this topic, refer to Literature of the Nonprofit Sector Online, using the subject heading "Environment".