Foundation Support for Civic Engagement Yields County-Wide L.A. Benefits

Strategic Funding Delivers $7 Billion in Benefits, Leadership, Civic Strength,

Exceptional Return On Investment

WASHINGTON, March 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A comprehensive survey of 15 Los Angeles-area nonprofit organizations, which leveraged foundation support for policy advocacy, community organizing and civic engagement, reveals that the organizations achieved extraordinary payback for Los Angeles County.

Over a five-year period (2004-08), the research found that the L.A. organizations generated nearly $7 billion in benefits to vulnerable communities, trained more than 14,000 community leaders, increased organizational strength by adding nearly 40,000 individual new members and brought close to 55,000 residents into public action on critical issues of the day.

Strengthening Democracy, Increasing Opportunities:  Impacts of Advocacy, Organizing and Civic Engagement in Los Angeles County, issued by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, charts a dramatic, substantial return on foundations' investments in policy engagement.  For every dollar foundations and other donors provided to community organizations engaged in advocacy and organizing, the funded groups realized $91 in benefits to the communities they serve.

"While high profile commentators decry 'community organizing,' this report clearly demonstrates that such activity delivers enormous benefits to communities.  On every issue of concern to residents of Los Angeles County, from clean air to immigration, from equality to education, foundation support for community-based activist organizations yields positive results," said Aaron Dorfman, Executive Director of NCRP.  "Foundation support turns indifference into democracy and the benefits of a thriving democracy are indeed substantial."

The report, written by NCRP Senior Research Associate Lisa Ranghelli and Research Associate Julia Craig, recommends that foundations increase grant funding for advocacy and organizing, help educate donors about the benefits of advocacy funding, support effective collaboration among community organizations, work in concert with other grantmakers to leverage resources and invest in the infrastructure and organizational capacity of grassroots organizations over sustained periods of time.

"The report demonstrates that foundations best serve their own objectives and generate the greatest impact on communities when we support advocacy and organizing at the grassroots level.  There is no doubt that the impact could expand even more if we work in concert and focus resources through strategic grantmaking," said Kafi Blumenfield, CEO and Executive Director of the Liberty Hill Foundation, a Los Angeles-based foundation that provided seed money and supported a majority of the organizations featured in the report.

By calculating the financial impact of policy engagement among the 15 organizations, the report charts $ 6.89 billion in direct benefits to L.A. County, including more than $2.6 billion in increased wages and an additional $2.2 billion in health care savings.  These benefits also derive from increased use of public transit, construction of new schools and expanded affordable housing, all the direct result of community action on public policy.

In addition, the report tracks such non-monetized benefits as cleaner air, improved working conditions and expanded, more responsive service delivery to such marginalized groups as lesbians and gays and residents with limited English proficiency.

"Any foundation seeking to expand and enhance its impact should read this report.  By documenting the high return on investment in advocacy and organizing, the report makes clear the high cost of sitting on the sidelines. For those who choose to support advocacy and organizing, the results it charts and the guidelines it recommends are a blueprint for maximum impact and maximum benefit," says Pete Manzo, President and CEO of the United Ways of California.

"Los Angeles is richer, stronger, healthier and infinitely more democratic because foundations have learned that advocacy, organizing and civic engagement really do make a difference in the lives of everyone," says Stewart Kwoh, Executive Director of L.A.'s Asian Pacific American Legal Center, one of the 15 organizations surveyed in the study.  "When foundations support strategic grassroots initiatives, every resident of Los Angeles benefits."

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy in Washington, D.C. is a national watchdog, research and advocacy organization that promotes philanthropy that serves the public good, is responsive to people and communities with the least wealth and opportunity, and is held accountable to the highest standards of integrity and openness. Visit www.ncrp.org.  The NCRP Los Angeles Report was funded by supporters of NCRP, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and The California Endowment. The Southern California Grantmakers partnered with NCRP in the development of the report.

The Report will be formally released at a conference of community organizations and foundation representatives, hosted by Southern California Grantmakers, from 9 to 11 AM on Tuesday, March 2, at the California Endowment's Center for Health Communities, 1000 N. Alameda Street in Los Angeles.

NCRP Los Angeles County Report Fact Sheet

• In 2007, L.A. County's 2,930 active private and community grantmaking foundations held assets of $42.7 billion.
• Over the studied 5-year-period between 2004 and 2008, foundations and other institutional grantmakers provided critical monetary, capacity building and convening support to non-profit efforts. Funders contributed $58 million, or 77% of all advocacy and organizing funding for 15 organizations over these years.
• Analysis of a small sample of diverse organizations in Los Angeles County revealed substantial benefits for vulnerable communities as a result of such funding, including more than $6.89 billion in monetary gains as well as many non-monetized impacts.  
• For every dollar invested in the advocacy, organizing, and civic engagement activities of 15 community groups collectively, there was $91 in benefits to Los Angeles County communities.
• Data from 13 groups reveals that they collectively:  trained more than 14,000 leaders, grew their membership by almost 40,000 individuals and turned out close to 55,000 people at public actions.
• As a result of foundation support during the 5-year-period, groups verified at least 45 separate community impacts, of which at least 25 were able to be monetized. These impacts directly benefit tens of thousands of workers, families, public school students, immigrants, transit users, LGBTQ residents and other historically vulnerable groups.
• Examples of non-monetary impacts benefiting underserved Angelenos include cleaner air, better working conditions, more balanced immigration enforcement, greater student access to college-prep classes and more responsive services for LGBTQ and limited English proficient residents.
• Community organizations used innovative strategies such as multi-ethnic organizing, youth leadership development, nonpartisan voter engagement and coalition-building to achieve their impacts.

• The L.A.-area and California foundations recognized most frequently for being effective partners with nonprofits in their advocacy, community organizing and civic engagement efforts were: the California Community Foundation, the California Endowment, the California Wellness Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the Liberty Hill Foundation, United Way of Greater Los Angeles, and the Women's Foundation of California.

SOURCE National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy