The Cultures of Giving Fund, a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors established with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, empowers emerging donor communities to lead, develop and grow philanthropic resources for community social change causes. The Fund awards challenge grants to culturally-specific and multicultural social change funds to increase the impact and effectiveness of individual and collective giving in African American, Latino, Asian American, Native American and underserved immigrant communities. The Fund also awards grants to community-based organizations and philanthropic services to increase the capacity of community-based nonprofits to reach out to individual donors and connect them with community causes.
Innovation & Impact
In 2007, the Cultures of Giving Fund launched a limited pilot grantmaking program entitled Innovation & Impact. This pilot builds on ten years of exploration and support by the Kellogg Foundation to unleash new resources for social change in communities of color and other emerging donor communities. It also builds on the research and exploration of many philanthropic leaders and foundations. A key underlying assumption is that while there is growing affluence in many of these communities, there still exists much work to be done to address poverty, inequities and discrimination.
Innovation & Impact honors the traditions of giving within and across cultures and recognizes that community members are uniquely equipped to identify and address community needs. Although mainstream philanthropy and public funds should continue to share responsibility for addressing these needs, many community donors are now in a position to offer a potentially powerful and empowering resource.
This program is designed to support the development of this philanthropy and to strengthen the civic voice and leadership of emerging donors and their communities.