Impact of the Economic Crisis on Social Justice Philanthropy

ASF member The Cricket Island Foundation released a report on the resources available to support social justice work in communities across the country.

The report’s summary states: “What we found was not completely surprising:  a small but important subset of grantmakers – those who work on issues ranging from human rights to environmental justice – has been disproportionately impacted by the global financial crisis and their recovery remains in jeopardy.”

Diminishing Dollars: The Impact of the 2008 Financial Crisis on the Field of Social Justice Philanthropy reveals some key findings:

• Unless the field sees five years of above average investment returns, social justice grantmaking in 2015 will remain below 2008 levels.
• Small foundations (less than $50 million in assets) will struggle the most to recover from the economic downturn.
• Nonprofit organizations seeking new funders will have a difficult time.
• Some foundations are unintentionally depleting their endowments at a very slow rate.