Native Americans in Philanthropy Making Connections Through #GenIndigenous Work

When the Obama Administration launched Generation Indigenous—an initiative designed to stimulate investment and engagement in supporting the lives of Native youth—in late 2014, Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP) was an organization in transition. “We had no executive director and no CEO,” says Sarah Eagle Heart, who became NAP’s chief executive officer in 2015. As a result, NAP was not a major part of the initiative’s rollout. But that changed dramatically once Eagle Heart came onboard and the Obama Administration began seeking ways for Generation Indigenous to carry on beyond the president’s term. “I basically called the White House and said, ‘Can you use some help?’” Eagle Heart recalls.

A membership-based network of nonprofits, tribal communities, and foundations, Minneapolis-based NAP has long served as a connector between grantmakers and Native organizations and communities. But with Generation Indigenous, Eagle Heart saw new opportunity to intensify and invigorate that work. “We were hearing from foundations that wanted to fund organizations supporting Native youth but couldn’t find them,” explains Eagle Heart. Native nonprofits were having similar trouble identifying and interfacing with potential funders. “There were communication gaps and education gaps that needed to be bridged.”

“We were hearing from foundations that wanted to fund organizations supporting Native youth but couldn’t find them.”

— Sarah Eagle Heart, Native Americans in Philanthropy

In August 2016, Native Americans in Philanthropy partnered with the White House on a Generation Indigenous event that brought both groups together. The convening featured presentations by 10 Native nonprofits in which they shared with funders the innovation and emerging impact of their work. Each organization saw a surge of investment after the event. “It was really great to see our Native leaders shine,” says Eagle Heart. NAP also used its newsletter and social media platform to introduce the groups and their work to its larger network.

As the White House event was being planned, protests at Standing Rock were gaining the national spotlight. Flooded with calls from would-be funders about how to help, NAP held another Generation Indigenous (now #GenIndigenous) convening at Standing Rock in October 2016. About a dozen funders attended the session, spending time in the camps and talking to nonprofits in that space. They also asked NAP to begin convening regular strategy calls to connect them with the needs on the ground as well as help them present information back to their boards. “We became an intermediary for foundations looking for Standing Rock funding opportunities,” said Eagle Heart. “That gave us the chance to continue educating funders about issues not just at Standing Rock but beyond.”

“Mainstream America is now listening to the fact that Native people haven’t had a seat at the table. I think we’re finally at a moment when we are invisible no more. And that’s really, really exciting.”

— Sarah Eagle Heart, Native Americans in Philanthropy

Since then, NAP has continued “building the organization to be able to be flexible to the opportunities that are coming,” said Eagle Heart. Its #GenIndigenous Rapid Response Fund, for example—offering grants up to $5,000 to Native organizations both led by and serving youth— emerged from this need to act in real time. “It’s a critical moment to support Native young people who are showing a readiness to organize,” says Eagle Heart.

In April 2017, NAP will hold #GenIndigenous convenings in San Francisco and Seattle, with additional regional convenings planned for Southern California, the Southwest, and the Midwest. Eagle Heart sees each as an opportunity to accelerate what she sees as a growing momentum. “Mainstream America is now listening to the fact that Native people haven’t had a seat at the table,” says Eagle Heart. “I think we’re finally at the moment when we are invisible no more. And that’s really, really exciting.”

Potlatch Fund: Tapping a Civic Impulse to Strengthen Native Communities

Potlatch Fund is a grant­making foundation and leadership development organization that serves Native communities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. It supports diverse Pacific Northwest Native communities by providing grants up to $10,000 focused primarily on culture, art and language revitalization, and preserving traditions.

“To understand our work and impact, you have to understand the historical and cultural context in which we operate,” says executive director Dana Arviso. “Some of the challenges our communities are facing are due to a history of federal policies explicitly designed to relocate and tear our communities apart. The inequities are vast.”

“To understand our work and impact, you have to understand the historical and cultural context in which we operate.”

— Dana Arviso, Potlatch Fund

But, Aviso emphasizes, they are not intractable. Potlatch Fund—which takes its name from a Chinook Jargon word that describes a system of social sharing and cultural celebration—has made great strides in building support for the community-based organizations it funds.

A significant number of its grantees have, with Potlatch support, grown their budgets and revenue. “We’re seeing more organizations starting to apply to larger funding sources. It’s not that they don’t need our grants, but that they feel they can leverage [larger grants] and intentionally decide to leave our resources for other native organizations.”

Another marker of success in capacity building: In 2006, more than half of all grantees needed significant help from Potlatch just to complete their grant applications. In 2015, over 90 percent of applicants applied without help. This indicates a clearer understanding of the processes and requirements to successfully apply for grants from any funder.

In early 2016, Potlatch Fund finished a strategic planning process to bring new dollars into the communities it serves. They were spurred in part by data showing that for every dollar of philanthropic money only 3 to 5 cents goes to Native communities.

As a member organization of Native Americans in Philanthropy, Potlatch educates foundations on the historical and cultural context of grantmaking in Native communities. “We create relationships between mainstream philanthropy and our communities,” says Arviso. “We are working to get more foundations to join the circle of funders that have made a deep commitment to funding in our communities.”

Blending the Traditional and Contemporary

Potlatch draws attention to some of the critical issues in Native communities by getting back to tradition—and by blending these traditions with contemporary approaches and technologies.

In 2012, Potlatch launched a focus on preserving Native languages that are at risk of being lost along with the last generation of fluent elders. Many of these languages are oral and not written, and some communities are using their grants to create written dictionaries and pronunciation guides, often with the help of technology. Innovative approaches include training young people to use iPads to interview elders and create a recording and transcription of the language. Other grantees use apps to create digital storybooks celebrating the languages.

Since it launched in 2013, the Language Education & Preservation grant  has provided over $60,000 in support.

“It will take more than one generation, but we are becoming whole and vibrant communities again.”

— Dana Arviso, Potlatch Fund

A second major area of grantmaking is designed to restore Native art to its central place in community and culture. Here too, Potlatch supports a blending of innovative new technology with deep-rooted tradition. “Restrictions on some of the natural resources we’ve traditionally used in our art, such as cedar bark, have created problems. So we encourage artists to explore new machines, methods and materials. Our microgrants help purchase the supplies.”

Each year,  Potlatch supports and Inter-Tribal Canoe Journey that celebrates diverse traditions and educates younger generations. Potlatch works with larger foundations to bundle and re-grant to canoe-building and cultural projects selected by a committee that comprises community members.

“Our work in art and language preservation is rebuilding connections so that people of all ages—elders, middle age, Native youth—are connecting to each other and also back to traditional practices. It will take more than one generation, but we are becoming whole and vibrant communities again.”