Resources

Policy Influence: What Foundations are Doing and Why

Foundations’ engagement in public policy has contributed to advances in society in areas from civil rights to consumer protections to public health. At the same time, and with greater intensity in recent years, the role of philanthropy in influencing policy has been the subject of scrutiny.

And yet little data is available about how many foundations engage in efforts to influence public policy, why they undertake this work, and how they approach it. So CEP studied the perspective of foundation leaders across the country on this topic. Based on survey responses from 214 foundation leaders and in-depth interviews with CEOs and staff at 43 foundations, as well as survey responses from 419 nonprofit leaders on CEP’s Grantee Voice panel, Policy Influence: What Foundations Are Doing and Why shares what we learned.

Racial Equity and Philanthropy: Disparities in Funding for Leaders of Color Leave Impact on the Table

This research, from Echoing Green and Bridgespan, lays bare the racial disparity in today’s funding environment and argues that population-level impact cannot happen without funding more leaders of color.

Echoing Green and Bridgespan collaborated to research the depth of racial inequities in philanthropic funding. Based on what we see in our work as intermediaries in the sector, two of the biggest factors holding back philanthropy’s efforts to help advance social change are rooted in race:

• Understanding the role of race in the problems philanthropists are trying to solve;
• The significance of race when it comes to how philanthropists identify leaders and find solutions.

Color-blind grantmaking, even when grounded in a well-meaning attempt at equity, is the crux of the problem. Philanthropist Jeff Raikes shares: “Tricia and I recognize that we come into this work with blind spots, as did many of our staff. Over the past few years we have challenged ourselves to better understand the ways a race-conscious approach leads to better results for the communities we want to support.”

Education, Race, and Jobs in the COVID-19 Crisis

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the US economy—and staggering unemployment numbers still do not fully reflect the extent of the crisis. This analysis reveals that the economic burden has fallen on the most vulnerable groups in our society: workers without bachelor’s degrees, Black and Latino workers, low-income families, parents, and young adults.

Exploring New Research on Pre-K Outcomes

This Policy Brief analyzes 15 research studies on the effectiveness of pre-K outcomes in programs across the country and finds evidence of sustaining effects beyond kindergarten. 

As pre-K programming increasingly garners more political attention and funding in the states, policymakers are seeking the most up-to-date and rigorous research to support decision-making and creation or expansion of these programs. High-quality pre-K has bipartisan support in part because of the vast amount of existing research detailing positive benefits — notably that it is of great benefit to students from lowincome families and those who are dual-language learners. However, some research also demonstrates that positive growth among pre-K students isn’t consistently sustained over time. This idea is known as “convergence” or “fadeout,” because the short-term gains of pre-K attendees may diminish in early elementary school.

This Policy Brief aims to capture and make sense of the most recent research studies on pre-K programs and outcomes. 

Parents 2020: COVID-19 Closures - A Redefining Moment for Students, Parents, and Schools

In April 2020, Learning Heroes fielded PARENTS 2020, a nationally representative survey of parents and guardians (sample size of 3600+), designed to better understand how families are supporting their children’s academic development during school closures due to COVID-19. Insights from this survey build off of five years of parent research, and highlight the unique challenges faced by parents and guardians during this unprecedented moment in time. Review the presentation deck summarizing the survey or watch the webinar here.

With the K-12 System in Crisis, Top Education Funders Are Largely Absent From Relief Efforts