Between 2018 and 2021, less than 4 percent of funding for Minnesota nonprofits was focused on racial equity, and only about 0.5 percent was focused on racial justice, a report from the Black Collective Foundation MN finds.

Produced in partnership with the Center for Evaluation Innovation (CEI) and the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (PRE), the report, Toward Power-shifting Solidarity With Black-led Change, weaves together data from 2018-21 from national and local philanthropic sources, insights from Black community leaders, and the input of stakeholders committed to racial equity in Minnesota. While funding for Black communities in Minnesota increased over that time, it did not keep pace with national trends. Indeed, Minnesota, which was the epicenter of the racial justice uprisings in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd, saw a tiny fraction of foundation funding invested in Black-led social change organizations.

To remedy the situation, the report details five actions to urge all philanthropy to invest in Black lives year-round and long-term: Trust, defend, and recognize Black leaders; embrace the dual needs for economic development and healing justice; meet Black people at their intersections and acknowledge the force of anti-Blackness; support spaces of respite for Black changemakers in philanthropy; and invest in racial justice at the speed of courage.

“The research asks: What will it take for institutional philanthropy in Minnesota and beyond to move at the speed of courage and invest wholly in Black lives?” said CEI co-executive director and lead researcher Chera Reid.

“Like in our previous report, Mismatched, our analysis of more current data showed that claims of massive increases in racial justice funding in Minnesota were grossly exaggerated,” said PRE executive director Lori Villarosa. “Fortunately, a growing number of Minnesota-based funders seem to be beginning to develop a structural racism lens for their grantmaking—a trend we hope will continue.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Vesnaandjic)