Advocacy for Funders
Funders Together Resources
Advocacy Resources
As part of an ongoing effort to provide support and programming on advocacy, we've compiled resources that can aid you in starting and continuing the conversation in your work to prevent and end homelessness.
The Legal Limitations on Lobbying
Funders can and should be advocates for policies and funding streams that can end and prevent homelessness. Understand the legal restrictions on private foundations’ advocacy efforts with this resource.
Funders Together's Policy Principles
While there are numerous policies that may affect homelessness services and prevention, we stand behind these key policy principles.
From Our Members
Campion Foundation - Advocacy Spectrum and Tools
CASE STUDY: The Campion Foundation’s Journey to Advocacy
Other Resources
Bolder Advocacy: An Initiative of Alliance for Justice
A Foundation’s Guide to Advocacy
Published by Council on Foundations, this report explains “lobbying” versus networking and includes a step-by-step guide to contacting policymakers.
Barr Foundation and MASSCreative's Webinar: Political Advocacy 101
This report from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy discusses best practices and the impact of philanthropic dollars devoted to advocacy.
Funders in Action: An Example of Funder Advocacy
Texas education grantmakers knew that they needed to act when the state government cut $5.4 billion from the education budget in 2011. Funders began seeing the impacts quickly; requests for grants increased dramatically from organizations that used to receive support from public schools and public-private partnerships were in danger of falling apart. In response, funders formed the Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium (TEGAC) to push back against the massive spending cuts. Because the group was focused on the budget -- and did not get into political ideologies or education reform debates -- it was able to convene and mobilize an unprecedented number of grantmakers throughout Texas. TEGAC also invested $100,000 in research to help shape the public narrative. The programs affected by the budget cuts were the same programs that studies proved to be effective! In May 2013, the Texas legislature reinstated $4 billion out of the $5.4 billion in education funds. Although TEGAC did not take credit for the restoration of funding, the mobilization of funders and the broad support for advocacy had a tangible statewide impact. Read more about this story here.
View blog posts on advocacy
Please contact Amanda Andere if you would like to discuss advocacy issues further.
Racial Equity Resources
A priority of Funders Together to End Homelessness is to engage philanthropy in addressing racial disparities in housing and homelessness and advancing racial equity. As part of ongoing effort to provide support and programming on equity, we've compiled resources that can aid funders in starting and continuing the conversation around this topic in your work. We will be updating this page with timely resources as they become available, so be sure to check back often!
Key Concepts
- Racial equity
- Structural racism (part I and part II)
- Levels of racism: institutional racism, interpersonal, systemic (cheat sheet, longer descriptions)
- Implicit bias (also this video)
- White privilege (and another resource)
- White fragility (and another article, both by Robin DiAngelo)
- Targeted universalism
Glossaries
- Glossary for Understanding the Dismantling Structural Racism/Promoting Racial Equity Analysis(Aspen Institute)
- Racial Equity Resource Guide Glossary (W.K. Kellogg Foundation)
- Racial Equity Tools Glossary (racialequitytools.org)
- Interaction Institute for Social Change working definitions
Funders Together Resources
Learning Series and Webinars
Race Matters Institute Webinars 1-2 Debrief
Funders Together has been hosting a four-part webinar series, led by Race Matters Institute, that covers a range of tools for understanding the history of racial inequity in homelessness, conducting a racial equity impact analysis, and developing strategies to advance racial equity in your organization. In this video, Stephanie Chan, Director of Membership and Programs, provides a debrief of the first two webinars in the series.
SPARC Phase One Study Findings
In this webinar, Marc Dones and Jeff Olivet provided an overview of the findings from the Phase One Study released in March 2018 and shared what they mean for the field of homelessness.
2019 Funders Institute Past Events page
From July 22-24, 2019, we convened sixty funders in Washington, DC for our annual Funders Institute to learn about removing barriers to advance racial equity from the ground up. Held in conjunction with the National Conference on Ending Homelessness, program participants learned about what other funders are doing to advance racial equity, Native homelessness, how to engage in advocacy at the congressional level, and how to support grantees in doing racial equity work.
Resources related to specific conversations are linked on this page.
Blog Posts
2019 Funders Institute: Reflections from a Family Foundation Perspective
Marci Lu, Senior Program Officer at the William J. & Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation, attended the first day of the July 2019 Funders Institute, Removing Barriers to Advance Racial Equity from the Ground Up. In this post she outlines key takeaways on how family foundations can support community work that’s advancing racial equity and addressing racial disparities.
Trust Building and the Process of Learning: Reflections from the Foundations for Racial Equity March Convening
On March 6-8, twenty-five funders from across the United States and Canada gathered in Portland, OR to kick off Foundations for Racial Equity (FRE), our two-year community of practice for funders who want to undo structural racism to end homelessness. We came together to learn and share resources on racial equity work in our organizations and communities, identify collective action steps, and build relationships and trust with each other.
Prioritizing Racial Equity Through Experiential Learning
In the summer of 2018 the Butler Family Fund board and staff along with other Butler family members, traveled to Alabama to take their racial equity learning from behind conference room walls to an on-location “classroom” filled with the most qualified teachers – those with lived experience. Funders Together spoke to Martha Toll, Executive Director, and Anne Morin, Program Officer, about the events leading up to the trip, their experience and reactions, and how other foundations can incorporate immersive learning to further their racial equity journey.
2018 Funders Institute: Reflections From The Day
In July at the 2018 Funders Institute, attendees gathered to share what they are learning about homelessness prevention, including what it is and how to work effectively with other systems to really end homelessness. The highly interactive day included a panel discussion, speed networking on what we’re each learning in our work, roundtable discussions, and opportunity to connect with multiple national leaders.
What Funders Are Saying About Racial Equity and Homelessness
On February 7-8, 2018, the Racial Equity and Homelessness Summit convened to address the connection between racial inequity and homelessness with attendees from across the country. Kollin Min, Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who co-sponsored the convening with the Raikes Foundation, recaps the highlights of the two-day event and funders who were present share their thoughts, takeaways, and responses to what they learned at the summit.
CEO Reflections II: When Should Philanthropy Lead From Behind?
“How should we respond?” Funders Together CEO, Amanda Andere, asks the question of philanthropy in light of the tragic events in both Charlottesville and Texas in 2017.
An Equity-Based Approach to Fighting Homelessness
What does it mean for philanthropy to make a commitment to equity and its intersection with homelessness? Rosa Benitez of the Weingart Foundation dives in to how her foundation has been answering this question head on.
Why We Must Address Racial Inequity In Our Efforts To End Homelessness
Why is Funders Together to End Homelessness addressing racial inequity? Our CEO, Amanda Andere, explains how philanthropy's involvement in focusing on the structural issues that cause racial inequity can create a path to truly making sure homelessness is rare, brief, and one-time.
Member Resources
Reports, Guides, and Toolkits
Race Equity and Inclusion Action Guide
One way to achieve social change in an organization is to incorporate race equity and inclusion at every stage of work. The seven steps in this guide, from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, provide a clear framework for undertaking this important work. This tool adds to the resources already created by partners who have been working in the field.
New Resources Help Organizations Advance Race Equity at Every Step
The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s seven-step guide, Race Equity and Inclusion Action Guide, aims to help organizations advance race equity and eliminate systemic barriers en route to improving the lives of children and families. Now, in partnership with several leaders in race equity, the Foundation has created and compiled a new set of resources focused on helping social-sector organizations navigate every step of this seven-part journey.
Racial Equity and Homelessness in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania: Initial Findings
In this report Your Way Home Montgomery County shares the first cut of an analysis of our data, policies and procedures, and
personnel recruitment through a racial equity lens.
Blog Posts and News Articles
Meyer Memorial Trust: A Commitment to Equity Starts With Training
Raikes Foundation: The Power of Equity
Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland: How Can Funders Strengthen Racial Equity Work?
Partner Resources
Reports, Guides, and Toolkits
American Healing Racial Equity Resource Guide
As part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's American Health work, this guide shares insights, resources and tools of individuals and organizations that have been working to foster racial healing and racial equity in communities.
DEI Toolkit for Consultants to Grantmakers
Guide your philanthropy clients through the complexities of their work in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with this DEI Toolkit for Consultants to Grantmakers by National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers. Help consultants and grantmakers alike look through issues with a DEI lens. The toolkit consists of key resources recommended by leading experts whose work focuses on DEI and its significant impact in the philanthropic sector.
Integrating Racial Equity in Foundations, Governance, Operations, and Program Strategy
This paper from the Consumer Health Foundation provides an excellent overview of framework for organizing racial equity efforts within philanthropy.
Equity as a Leading Principle
This is Part One of a five-part series titled, “Equity and Evaluation: Models of How Equity Can and Does Impact Evaluation” by the TCC Group.
Racial Equity Network Toolkit
This toolkit from the National Alliance to End Homelessness's Racial Equity Network (REN) helps to identify the following set of existing tools that you might find helpful as you get started in racial equity work in your community.
Report and Recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee on Black People Experiencing Homelessness
This report summarizing the key insights illuminated by the Los Angele Homeless Service Authority (LAHSA) Commission as well as the Committee's recommendations for necessary action to advance equity and eliminate racial disparities impacting Black people experiencing homelessness across Los Angeles County.
The Road to Achieving Equity: Findings and Lessons from a Field Scan of Foundations That Are Embracing Equity as a Primary Focus
This report from Putnam-Consulting Group and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides a look at some of the efforts leading foundations are making, as well as the challenges they face. Based on interviews with 30 foundation leaders, this report explores the ways in which foundations are applying principles of equity within their own operations - from grantmaking, to investments, to human resources.
Supporting Partnerships for Anti-Racist Communities (SPARC) Phase One Study Findings
New research from SPARC documents that people of color are dramatically more likely than White people to experience homelessness in the US. The message is clear: to end homelessness, we must confront structural racism. The report offers strategies for organizational leaders, researchers, policymakers, and community members.
Why Am I Always Being Researched?
Chicago Beyond created this guidebook to help shift the power dynamic and the way community organizations, researchers, and funders uncover knowledge together. It is an equity-based approach to research that offers one way in which we can restore communities as authors and owners.
Why We Need to Talk About Racism and Family Homelessness
This Powerpoint from the Center for Social Innovation provides important background and data on the connection between racism and homelessness.
King County Youth of Color Needs Assessment
Learning Series and Webinars
Putting Grantees at the Center of Philanthropy
This series from the Stanford Social Innovation Review, in partnership with Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, focuses on grantee inclusion and provides perspective from both the philanthropic and grantee view on why and how making grantees the center of philanthropy can advance initiatives and help them succeed.
Putting Racism on the Table
In 2016, WRAG launched Putting Racism on the Table, a learning series for philanthropy. The series, from January - June 2016, convened philanthropic CEOs and trustees to learn from experts on the many aspects of racism, including structural racism, white privilege, implicit bias, mass incarceration, and the racial mosaic of this country.
Resources from the series are available on the WRAG website.
Blog Posts and News Articles
Bolder grantmaking: Integrating Racial Equity Impact Assessments in requests for proposals
This blog from the Consumer Health Foundation focuses on the Foundation's revisiting of grantmaking protocols and a new practice to ensure that its investments are truly impacting communities of color.
Embracing Discomfort
Kathleen Enright, former President and CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations explains why having conversations around racial equity is critical and will require us to be vulnerable if philanthropy is to succeed in addressing race and making positive changes in their communities.
Homelessness, Racism, and Social Justice
Jeff Olivet, Center for Social Innovation, examines the connection between homelessness, racism, and social justice in this Huffington Post blog post.
How Philanthropy Can Work to Give All Black Men an Opportunity to Succeed
By Tamara Lucas Copeland, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers (WRAG)
"Non-Racism" Is Not Enough
By Aisha Alexander-Young, Meyer Foundation
Philanthropy and Indian Country
Posted on Philanthropy Northwest, by Se-ah-dom Edmo, MRG Foundation
Philanthropy with a Racial Equity Lens
Posted on the Center for Effective Philanthropy, by Anna Cruz, The Kresge Foundation
Serving Native Women Experiencing Homelessness: From Trauma to Transformation
Posted on the National Alliance to End Homelessness, by Colleen Echohawk, Chief Seattle Club
Other Resources
The Association of Racial and Homelessness Microagressions and Physical and Mental Health in a Sample of Homeless Youth
This article focuses on experiences of microaggressions, or subtle forms of discrimination, in homeless youth by describing the development of a new scale measuring homelessness microaggressions and demonstrating the association between microaggressions, and health/well-being in a sample of homeless youth.
Center for Social Innovation SPARC Initiative
SPARC is an initiative of the Center for Social Innovation in partnership with The Bassuk Center on Homeless and Vulnerable Children & Youth. With support from the Oak Foundation and others, the SPARC team is launching a multi-city initiative to conduct qualitative and quantitative research, hold public discussions and forums, train providers and activists, and collaborate with leadership in systems of housing, health care, education, and criminal justice.
Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racists MultiCultural Organization
Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity
The Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity provides publications, resources, and programming that can aid as you look to advance racial equity through your foundation. The goal of the initiative is to "increase the amount and effectiveness of resources aimed at combating institutional and structural racism in communities through capacity building, education, and convening of grantmakers and grantseekers."
Unite4Equity
Unite4Equity is a Change Philanthropy campaign focused on promoting equity in philanthropy as an investment of social and financial resources in policies, practices, and actions that produce equitable access, power, and outcomes for all communities.
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations Equity Statement
Effective Grantmaking to End Homelessness
Effective grantmaking is the critical role that philanthropic organizations—large and small; family, community, corporate, or private; focused on homelessness or on a variety of social services—can and must play in ending homelessness. Whether you give $5,000 to a flexible fund that provides rent and utility subsidies to at-risk families or $25,000 to help a transitional housing provider become a permanent supportive housing provider or make a $100,000 program-related investment toward affordable housing expansion, your funding organization can help to end homelessness.
Funders Together Resources
Building a Funders Network 101: How You Can Catalyze Change in Your Community
Funders networks have been critical to bringing together all kinds of grantmakers within a community and forging commitments to a systems approach. What are the key elements in building an effective funders network in your own community?
Sample PowerPoint Slides: Building a Funders Network
Giving a presentation and want to talk about building a funders network? Look no further for slides to educate your audience on the key elements of a successful funders network. This resource can serve as a stand-alone presentation.
Other Resources
In addition to the resources below, we reviewed multiple resources geared toward helping funders make more effective grants and developed a list of 10 general steps grantmakers should consider. This list was adapted from Philanthropy Northwest's Ending Homelessness: A Guide for Northwest Grantmakers.
- Have a vision and establish clear goals
- Understand the problem
- Identify your funding priorities
- Communicate with all potential partners and with your community
- Fund what works
- Advocate for what works
- Collaborate with partners to inform your work and leverage your investments
- Evaluate progress through data and outcomes measures
- Commit for the long term
- Share what you learn with peers, policymakers, providers, and the public
The Age Structure of Contemporary Homelessness: Evidence and Implications for Public Policy
The Age Structure of Contemporary Homelessness: Risk Period or Cohort Effect?
Costs Associated with First-time Homelessness for Families and Individuals
National Alliance to End Homelessness's Front Door Strategies
Social Impact Investing: Overview and Application to Permanent Supportive Housing
Tools for Identifying High-Cost, High Needs Homeless Persons
WEBINAR: Connecting Employment and Homelessness Systems
WEBINAR: Housing-based Solutions to Homelessness
WEBINAR: Social Impact Investing
View blog posts on effective grantmaking
Still looking for more information? Let us know what you're interested in and we'll try to help.
Systems Change
At Funders Together, we are seeing an encouraging trend: thought leaders working to end homelessness are focusing not on the successes of individual programs, but rather on a systemic approach that addresses the underlying causes of homelessness. A systems approach integrates theory, analysis, stakeholder participation, systems mapping, and identification of high-leverage interventions to help communities uncover the dynamics that can get them stuck.
What does this mean in practice? Communities are convening in unprecedented ways. Federal government agencies are working to break down the silos that can get them stuck. Funders are setting aside short-term successes to prioritize sustainable results. And everyone is working together.
Funders Together Resources
Sample PowerPoint Slides: Systems Change
While bringing together diverse stakeholders is a necessary step towards ending homelessness, it is not sufficient. Thinking and acting systemically are required to end homelessness.
From Our Members
Calgary Homeless Foundation - System Planning Framework
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation - Los Angeles Chronic Homelessness Initiative Strategy Summary
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation - Mobilizing Los Angeles County to End Chronic Homelessness
Raikes Foundation - A Place to Call Home: Our Strategy for Solving Youth Homelessness
Other Resources
Systems Change Accomplishments of Corporation for Supportive Housing's Returning Home Initiative
CSH Toolkit for Advancing Systems Change
WEBINAR: Connecting Employment and Homelessness Systems
WEBINAR: Social Impact Investing
View blog posts on systems change
Still looking for more information? Let us know what you're interested in and we'll try to help.