What Funders Get Wrong About Investing in Democracy
In an op-ed published in Nonprofit Quarterly, CCI President & CEO Angie Kim challenges philanthropy’s short-term approach to pro-democracy efforts. Drawing on new research and her firsthand account of the regression that followed the post-2020 funding surge, she makes the case for investing in long-term, community-fueled solutions — and offers three concrete places for funders to start. To make real progress across election cycles, funders must invest in the communities where democratic life is actually built.
Community Ownership and Self-Determination
This research explores community ownership models used by organizations in Atlanta, Boston, Lisjan Territory, and New Orleans and finds that there is growing momentum to build democratically controlled and community-embedded institutions that are culturally centered. It highlights how organizations pursuing community ownership are using an ecosystem approach, shared decisionmaking structures, and community learning opportunities to advance their models and points to ways that funders and other actors can support this work.
