Indigenous Community Support Update
As part of our ongoing learning journey, we attend various funder briefings and informational presentations from organizations and partners in the field. The presentations may be held by organizations doing work on the frontlines, intermediaries raising and moving funds to organizations doing the work, or by donors who are passionate about a cause or movement and want to share the word with other organizers and donors to mobilize support.
Native Americans in Philanthropy hosted a COVID-19 Community Conversation a couple weeks ago. They shared a couple interesting figures on money that has been donated to Indigenous communities in the United States. Between March-October 2020, $32.2M was donated to Indigenous communities. These funds included a mixture of GoFundMe donations ($8.7M) and organizational donations ($23.5M). In addition to sharing the amount raised, the presenters spoke on the importance of continued and consistent support, both financial and other.
The key take away from their presentation were these five items:
Invest in Indigenous-led orgs & initiatives
Maximize general operating support
Diversify vehicles for investment
Invest in Indigenous community strengths & leadership - not the deficits
Invest in tribal policy advocacy and tribal leadership