Research

The question of how foundations are addressing issues of diversity is one of national significance and NCG is deeply committed to moving the field forward in this area. We believe that carefully planned and executed research projects on this topic in California will position the field well to examine this topic at the national level.

From 2007 into 2009, two phases of research were commissioned by NCG and the other California regional associations. This research comes at a time when the field of philanthropy is actively engaged in a major field-wide initiative to assess the extent to which foundations are addressing diversity related challenges. A major goal of the Diversity in Philanthropy Project (DPP), a multi-year effort launched in 2006 with the backing of more than 20 prominent grantmakers, is to seed the development of data collection systems for tracking progress related to diversity goals.

Full responsibility for administering and maintaining such systems would be assumed by the philanthropic field in general once the work of the DPP has concluded. NCG is committed to helping its members determine appropriate systems of information collection and management that will result in improved grantmaking strategies and community impact.