First Nations Receives $400,000 Fund for Shared Insight Grant to Help Better Understand and Improve Perceptions of Native Americans Whose Voices are Often Forgotten by Philanthropic Organizations

LONGMONT, CO--(Marketwired - July 27, 2016) - The Fund for Shared Insight has awarded First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) a grant of $400,000 over two years to support a new First Nations research initiative to better understand perceptions of American Indians within the philanthropic community and instigate a productive dialogue about increasing philanthropic investment in Native American communities. The Fund for Shared Insight is a collaborative effort among several funders that pools financial and other resources to make grants to improve philanthropy.

"The lack of mainstream philanthropy's investments in and partnership with Native American nonprofit organizations and tribes is well-documented," noted Michael E. Roberts, First Nations President and CEO. "A recent report found that foundation giving to Native causes was only three-tenths of one percent, and that included funding for museum collections and university programs, which were investments that were not going to essential Native American community development needs but to institutions that most often do not include Native Americans in the decision-making process. There is no good data on what percentage of philanthropic dollars is allocated to organizations that are Native-governed or controlled, but we speculate it is significantly less than three-tenths of one percent."

http://news.sys-con.com/node/3882244