View our resources for a timeline of GSP’s work, a collection of internal articles, and published works from our partners that help guide your understanding and thinking around racial and gender equity in the south.

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GSP Regional Conference
(April 2017)

Deployment of $2 million in philanthropic giving over the past 5 years.

2017

In 2017, GSP transitioned fiscal sponsors from the Neighborhood Funders Group to the Southern Education Foundation because we wanted to be rooted fully in the South.

Landscape

Over 120 GSP members representing over 80 foundations participated along with 25 southern community-based organizations.

Research

As the South Grows: GSP co-led a participatory research process with the National Committee on Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) to Increase the amount ands sustainability of funding from local and regional Southern funders, as well as from national funders.

Reports

Five reports that highlighted the voice of Southern practitioners of funders in different regions, focused on specific issues related to structural change work in those regions, and provided best practice recommendations.

Footprint

125 national funders, regional foundations, and southern partners.

Featured Articles & Publications

As the South Grows Report

As the South Grows is an initiative of Grantmakers for Southern Progress (GSP) and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) to give philanthropists the tools they need to partner effectively with visionary leaders across the South. The initiative will produce a four-part investigative research and resource report series around place-based strategies for supporting structural change in the South. See more.

Georgians Struggling to Survive: Basics of Rent, Utilities and Food Needed Most

GBPI has partnered with SouthStrong to produce this look at how Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants in Georgia were faring amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The data was analyzed and the report was written by the Southern Economic Advancement Program. You can download a pdf of the report here.

Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More with Less

Women and girls of color are pivotal frontline leaders and organizers in the powerful social change movements that pave the way for a more equitable and just democracy. Our report, Pocket Change—How Women and Girls of Color Do More With Less, seeks to better understand how they do this work and asks critical questions of philanthropy and donors: How is philanthropists supporting or not supporting women and girls of color? See more.

The Southern Power Fund: Moving Money to Frontline Communities in the South

Funder Briefing held on October 23, 2020

Over the last four months, Southern movement leaders and philanthropic allies came together with a strategic mission to raise 10 million dollars to support frontline organizations responding to the COVID-19 crisis and racial justice uprisings happening across the South. Watch this briefing to learn about our progress, the work ahead, and how you can support moving resources to movement organizations in the South!

Georgia Roots Up: Grassroots Organizing in Georgia Runoff!

Funder Briefing held on November 17, 2020

Take a moment to watch this briefing to hear from organizers and leaders on the ground, as they share how they will coordinate a state-wide effort with 38 501c3 organizations—local and state-wide organizations led by and focused on serving BIPOC, women, faith-based organizing, low-income, and poor people—to ensure that people’s voices are heard at the ballot box.

Closing the Women's Wealth Gap - National Meeting: Reimagining Philanthropy for Gender and Racial Justice

Panel held on February 18, 2021

In the midst of our nation’s racial reckoning, many philanthropists are putting dollars towards racial equity initiatives and organizations led by people of color. However, we must understand the interplay between long standing racial and gender economic inequities and the wealth and power of philanthropic institutions. How do we disrupt the very economic systems that have enabled private fortunes and philanthropy to amass enormous wealth while others struggle to get by? How do we redistribute resources and power into the hands of people most negatively impacted by these systems?

Our Partnership with the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) released two new pieces of research challenging local foundations across the country, including the South, to do more for racial equity and transparently share their progress.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor, an interactive dashboard, shows local-to-local foundation funding for immigrants, refugees and the pro-immigrant, pro-refugee movement in DC and all 50 states, with less than 2% of funds intentionally benefitting these communities. Black Funding Denied shows the best available public data for 25 community foundations’ explicit, intentional investments in Black communities. Reach out to Ben Barge to learn more.

The South receives less than 3% of philanthropic dollars nation-wide.

We created GSP to stop the pattern of underinvestment in the South by organizing philanthropic entities and resources that are needed to build the capacity of community-based organizations and networks leading structural change work in the region. Over the last nine years, we have experienced growth in the number of regional and national foundations that are prioritizing investments in the South…

See Our Grantee Map

“How do we put our mouth where our money is? To align action and voice with intent-it is not about the amount of resources, but the strategic use of those resources.”

– Takema Robinson

Ignite Change With GSP

Join Our Network and Ignite Change! GSP is a membership-based network of philanthropic leaders, practitioners, and individuals dedicated to leveraging resources for structural change in the South.