BackBlack has announced the launch of a national campaign to address funding disparities affecting Black-led nonprofits.

The BackBlack campaign is a collaborative initiative designed to direct more resources and philanthropic funding to underinvested Black-led organizations, build greater awareness of racial disparities in funding, and generate new data and insights to close funding gaps across the philanthropic sector. The project is the first initiative of the Giving Platform Collaborative, which was established earlier this year at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Greater Giving Summit.

BackBlack notes that, according to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, funding to Black communities accounts for only 1 percent of all community foundation funding, resulting in an underfunding of Black communities of $2 billion. Moreover, a report from the Bridgespan Group and Echoing Green found that unrestricted net assets of Black-led nonprofits are 76 percent smaller than those of white-led nonprofits. And according to the Nonprofit Finance Fund, white-led nonprofits are also more likely to receive corporate donations—71 percent, compared with 58 percent for BIPOC-led nonprofits.

BackBlack partner organizations include Bonterra, Charity Navigator, Charityvest, Deed, Endaoment, Every.org, the Gates Foundation, Give 8/28 Day, Givebutter, Giving Compass, Giving Gap, GlobalGiving, Grapevine, HERitage Giving Fund, Lightful, MightyCause, Network for Good DAF, and PayPal.

“There is great power when we leverage the expertise and resources of many to come together for good,” said Givebutter director of community and partnerships Floyd Jones, who is coordinating the campaign. “With BackBlack, we aim to support and uplift Black-led nonprofits, connecting these organizations with resources and funding to achieve their goals. This is just the beginning.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/andreswd)