The Chronicle of Philanthropy just published an important piece that focuses on the work Right to Democracy is doing to build a movement to advance democracy, equity, and self-determination in U.S. territories as well as the shocking philanthropy gap that exists in U.S. territories.

While voters across the United States prepare to exercise their democratic rights this election, over 3.6 million people in U.S. territories — Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands — are still denied fundamental political rights and a path towards decolonization.

Javier Valdés and Winny Chen, from Ford Foundation and Democracy Fund respectively, break down how this political inequity also plays out in the philanthropy space, citing research by Right to Democracy on the shocking "philanthropy gap" in U.S. territories. 

Adjusting for population differences, people in the territories receive just five cents on the dollar per person from U.S.-based philanthropy compared with the national average.

The article also highlights Right to Democracy’s report Building a Movement: Democracy, Equity, and Self-Determination in U.S. Territories and how support for cross-territorial movements is crucial to overcome the structural inequities that create obstacles for territories to advocate for themselves.

The article offers four concrete recommendations on what philanthropy can do to address democracy and close the philanthropy gap in U.S. territories:

• Education and awareness. Most grant makers know almost nothing about the U.S. territories or the racist colonial framework that governs them. Once they become aware, many feel compelled to act. To increase that awareness, foundations should include time for discussion and education about this issue during their convenings and conferences. And they should create opportunities for staff to visit the territories and experience first-hand the challenges they confront.
• Internal practices. Grant makers need to consider how their own practices may be impeding support for these communities. That should include an internal audit that examines systemic practices and assumptions and helps determine how work in the territories can be better integrated into existing programs — or the development of new ones. A first step may be as simple as checking whether the U.S. territories are included in eligibility criteria for grants and in grant management systems.
• The funding gap. People in the territories are some of the most vulnerable in the United States, yet they have historically fallen through the cracks when it comes to giving. That has started to change. From 2012 to 2021, philanthropic support to the territories increased 10-fold. Philanthropy should commit itself to this same growth rate, which would require providing $600 million a year to the territories by 2031. While ambitious, this would still mean that people in the territories receive just 50 cents in philanthropy on the dollar on a per capita basis compared with the current rate of five cents.
• The role of communities. Deploying standard top-down philanthropy to address the challenges facing the territories would merely re-create the kind of colonial and undemocratic structures that need to be dismantled. Philanthropy should instead rely on people and organizations in the affected communities as the experts and architects of their own advancement. In doing so, philanthropic engagement in U.S. territories can help serve as a model for other historically marginalized and isolated communities throughout the United States.

“Philanthropy is beginning to recognize that it needs to do more to advance democracy, equity, and self-determination in U.S. territories,” said Neil Weare, Co-Director of Right to Democracy, which works to confront the undemocratic colonial framework impacting U.S. territories. “If funders are serious about supporting multi-racial democracy, they cannot ignore the continued denial of democracy and self-determination to the 3.6 million residents of U.S. territories - 98% of whom are people of color.”

“It should serve as a wake-up call to philanthropy that U.S.-based foundations are only giving five cents on the dollar to people in U.S. territories compared to the U.S. average - even accounting for population differences,” said Adi Martínez Román, Co-Director of Right to Democracy. “We are excited to continue this conversation and invite interested funders to join us in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico next February for our second Summit on U.S. Colonialism.”

For more information on the Summit on U.S. Colonialism-Intersections see here or email [email protected].