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Black Equity Collective

Why We Do It

The Black Equity Collective believes in the power of Black possibilities rooted in a vision of Black Permanency®.

Black Equity Collective members in a meeting discussion

Throughout American history, Black people have served as the country’s moral conscience. We do so out of deep love for our community and because we have a rich spiritual tradition guided by faith that compels us to act in the face of injustice. We do this work because we are called to be repairers of the breach.

We know that our vision of healthy, joyous, thriving Black communities cannot happen without investing in the long-term sustainability of Black-led and Black-empowering organizations, which often serve as our community’s first responders.

Black-led organizations have an average revenue that is 24% less than that of White-led organizations, and their unrestricted net assets are 76% smaller.¹ We know that much of this disparity is driven by inequitable funding practices. That’s why we not only serve BLOs but we also partner with philanthropy to reimagine a sector that centers equity in grantmaking.

Chronically small budgets directly affect staff pay and retention, limiting the ability to scale impactful social change when we need it most. In a 2022 survey of Black-led and Black-benefiting nonprofit organizations, 43% of respondents indicated their organization does not have any paid full-time staff and 33% report having fewer than five full-time paid staff. Most rely on unpaid, volunteer staff to run the organization.2

Black-led nonprofits that receive foundation funding have fewer total grants annually compared with other nonprofits. Between 2016-2023, Black non-profits also received a smaller percentage of the grants they applied for, being awarded 54% of total grants applied for, with the smallest nonprofits awarded only 34%.3

More foundations began awarding grants to Black-led nonprofits in 2020. However, more funders did not translate into increased financial support for most nonprofits. Large Black-led nonprofits saw a temporary funding increase between 2020 and 2022, followed by a decline in 2023. Small Black-led nonprofits saw no significant funding change.3

  1. 1Young, Black & Giving Back Institute. Racial Equity and Philanthropy. Echoing Green & Bridgespan, 2020.
  2. 2Johnson Cooper, E. Grassroots, Black & Giving: How Philanthropy Can Better Support Black-led and Black-benefiting Nonprofits. 2023.
  3. 3Candid & ABFE. From Transaction to Transformation: Three Ways Foundations Can Invest in Black-Led Nonprofits for Lasting Change. 2026.