Volunteer-led Grantmaking

Grand Rapids Community Foundation’s Fund for Community Good is a fund of unrestricted assets generously donated by decades of donor partners. These flexible resources make up nearly 21% of our assets and make it possible for us to invest in the most pressing issues of the day. Today that means investing in partners throughout Kent County who share our commitment to becoming actively anti-racist and are working to achieve racial, social and economic justice. With that focus, the Community Foundation provides financial support across a broad spectrum including education, the environment, health, arts and social engagement, neighborhoods and economic prosperity.

the Community Foundation to reimagine the way we show up and deepen relationships in community.

“Historically, philanthropic institutions have not been racially or ethnically diverse, and they were not designed to empower communities of color,” says Mercedes Barragan, Fund for Community Good Advisory co-chair, while discussing the importance of having a committee that reflects the community it serves.

The committee is dedicated to learning more about how to create equitable systems within the philanthropic sector. Members challenge each other and the organization to implement those changes. “Over the last six years, the committee has amplified the voices of our community partners and helped the Community Foundation define our North Star,” says Mercedes. “We’ve also seen an increase in new BIPOC-led organizations applying for grants, and I’d like to think we helped achieve that.”

Part of that shift has been updating the fund’s operational policies and practices. In 2016 the committee helped to inform and adopt new grantmaking guidelines which prioritized racial, social and economic justice. They have also been on a journey to develop more practices of trust-based philanthropy.

Committee member Aaron Turner explains, “Trust based philanthropy says we’re not going to create barriers for you to have an impact. We are going to hold you accountable because we are stewards of the community’s resources. But we’re not going to make it so difficult that you give up, and then your organization can’t actually live into the mission of serving our community.”

This work is made possible because of the incredible volunteers who make up the Fund for Community Good Advisory Committee. As representatives and ambassadors of many communities across Kent County, these individuals extend our relationships in the nonprofit ecosystem with the various relationships they build with local nonprofits. They are critical for awarding grants from the Fund for Community Good – their decisions are made based on many hours of reading, reviewing and meeting with nonprofit partners. This committee was established in 1993 and since that time has continued to push

The volunteers who are leading this work alongside the Community Foundation staff are inspiring new, deeper relationships within the community. We have only scratched the surface of what we can accomplish together. To learn more about recent grants from the Fund for Community Good and Field of Interest funds, go to GRFoundation.org/PastGrants.

Provided by Mercedes Barragan and Aaron Turner