Black philanthropy panels places focuses on Black men and boys
23rd August 2021 · 0 Comments
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
On Thursday, August 19, three prominent Black philanthropy leaders participated in the Zoom presentation, “Sustaining the Momentum Towards Funding Equity: A Conversation Centering Black Men and Boys.”
The participants were Flozell Daniels, president and CEO of the Foundation for Louisiana; Charles West, president of Square Button; and Marc Barnes, VP for Institutional Advancement at Dillard University. The conversation was hosted as part of NOLA Black Philanthropy Month.
The three men all agreed that current events have provided new opportunities for Black philanthropic endeavors. After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the protests that followed, many people became more aware and more sensitive to issues facing Black men. West said in the past if you were applying for a grant, it wasn’t a good idea to specifically mention race or Black people. Donors needed to be finessed. Now, however, foundations are much more open to giving money to causes centered around Black people.
While there have been new opportunities for Black philanthropy over the past year and a half, there are challenges as well. The economic fallout of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has left many potential donors unemployed or underemployed. However, Barnes said the key is to be resourceful and figure out where the money is.
“Good research will tell you how to find companies who prospered during the pandemic,” Barnes said. “It takes good research and good relationships to find out where the money is.”
Barnes added that relationships remain a key to fundraising in any era. While he acknowledged some donors have not been able to give to Dillard during the pandemic, he said it’s still important to maintain relationships with those donors, even asking if he can help them in any way. He said donors remember how fundraisers treat them when they don’t have any money to offer at the moment.
The conversation addressed aiding Black men and boys through philanthropy. It’s something organizations do in different ways. For Barnes and Dillard, it’s through helping them receive a college education. He said the family income for about 75 percent of Dillard students falls below $40,000 a year. This means a lot of Dillard’s students need financial aid of some kind.
“College access would not exist for them without philanthropy,” Barnes said.
Black cultural organizations also receive philanthropic aid. Daniels spoke of how the Foundation for Louisiana helped the Mardi Gras Indian Cultural Campus in Central City receive financial support. The Mardi Gras Indians wanted to have their own land, have input in designing their building, and be left alone. Grants helped them achieve this goal.
Philanthropy can also help achieve criminal justice reform.
Daniels and West spoke of efforts to reduce New Orleans’ prison population during Mitch Landrieu’s administration. New Orleans had the largest per capita prison population in the United States at the start of Landrieu’s administration but is no longer even in the top 20. How did philanthropy help? By funding the data analysis that helped create a plan to reduce incarceration.
The conversation closed with Barnes emphasizing the multi-generational importance of today’s philanthropic work.
“All of the work we do is not just impacting this moment; it’s setting the stage for what our community will be for years to come,” Barnes said.
This article originally published in the August 23, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
