Across our city’s nonprofit sector, revenues of Black-led organizations are 24% less than white-led counterparts, and unrestricted net assets of Black-led organizations are 76% lower than white-led organizations. 

To challenge this disparity, Brooklyn Community Foundation prioritizes support for grassroots organizations led by Black people and other people of color as part of our institutional commitment to racial justice. 

Of the 184 organizations receiving Immediate Response grants from our Brooklyn COVID-19 Response Fund, more than 70% are led by people of color and one-third have annual operating budgets under $500,000. 

Beyond our grantmaking, we are also committed to investing in Black and POC leaders to ensure that they have the support they need to fight for change as they navigate unjust funding systems that privilege white leaders and organizations.

As the Mayor and City Council finalize New York City’s 2021 Budget with the pledge to divert funding from the NYPD to youth services and social services⁠ — we are calling on them to prioritize Black-led and POC-led organizations in this critical reinvestment.

With the impact of historic, deeply rooted structural racism becoming clearer to more people through its reflections in both the vast disparity of COVID-19 fatalities and persistent state-condoned violence in Black and Brown communities, our government must be held accountable not just through statements, but also in the allocation of resources.

We stand with the Coalition to Advance Nonprofits in demanding that the City:

• Listen to Black-led organizations on how NYPD funding should be reallocated

• Keep City Council discretionary funding at FY20 levels — just .42% of the overall budget and a primary way grassroots organizations access government funding 

• Increase flexibility of City Council member items to allow organizations to meet urgent community needs

• Increase funding for the Communities of Color Nonprofit Stabilization Fund to $5M

Add your voice to the call to action by contacting your City Council member⁠ — the budget deadline is July 1! 

Both your voice and your financial support are required. Now is the time to invest in racial justice like never before. Give today to support Brooklyn leaders and organizations at the forefront of the fight for justice and transformation.

Pictured: 2019 Spark Prize winner Girls for Gender Equity