August 2014
We are pleased to celebrate a growing annual celebration of a bedrock of Black communities in America and globally – philanthropy. August is Black Philanthropy Month! ABFE was established to promote effective and responsive philanthropy in Black communities by engaging a network of Black professionals working in grantmaking organizations to direct philanthropic resources to the communities we care about. Through our founders and board members, the organization has also been part of the movement to strengthen and support Black philanthropy through the creation of the National Center on Black Philanthropy and by supporting the launch of the National Black United Fund. With a commitment to the power of giving time, talent and treasure embedded in our organizational DNA, we encourage all of our members and colleagues to join the celebration of this important part of our heritage and share their own stories of giving and receiving.
Learn more about BPM2014 and ways of getting involved here or got to www.blackphilanthropymonth.com.
For our part, we are sharing profiles of an individual or organization that supports Black communities through philanthropic practice. Each profile is based on an interview using 9 questions about personal or institutional giving, including motivations, methods and lessons learned from the experience. Why 9 questions? The number 9 represents universal love, service to humanity, humanitarianism and the humanitarian, leading by positive example, philanthropy and the philanthropist, charity, self-sacrifice, selflessness, destiny, soul purpose and mission, generosity, a higher perspective, inner-strength, responsibility, intuition, strength of character. We couldn’t think of a more perfect representation of the true meaning of philanthropy.
In addition to learning more about the models of giving from ABFE, stay connected to BPM2014 through social media and follow the BPM Architects:
We also encourage you to revisit a report released during the 2013 celebration of Black Philanthropy Month, The New Black Philanthropy: Looking Back to Move Forward, released by the African Women’s Development Fund USA, which “looks back at the contributions of Africa to American philanthropy and charts a new vision for how to include contemporary African immigrants in America’s Black and broader philanthropy movements.”
Share stories and ideas, learn from friends and colleagues, and be the change in the world.
As always, you can follow ABFE on Twitter and Facebook.
Happy BPM2014!