Native communities in the United States have long engineered and implemented innovative solutions to universal problems. This means that opportunities for impact are abundant when philanthropy invests in Native communities, Native-led organizations, and Tribal Nations.

No matter the issue that your grantmaking focuses on—from education to climate to strengthening democracy—there are Native institutions and Native leaders doing critical work, fueled by a long tradition of successful ingenuity, adaptation, and resilience. Likewise, for funders that take a place-based approach to grantmaking, chances are that there are Native communities and organizations that share your geography and can benefit from your investment.

“Meaningful progress in climate action and conservation is inextricably linked to partnership with Native communities,” explains Carla Fredericks (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation), CEO of The Christensen Fund, North America's sole Indigenous-focused global private foundation. “The fund's contemporary mission has centered on developing authentic, respectful collaborations with Indigenous communities, honoring their rights, traditional ecological knowledge, and leadership.”

Research conducted by The Bridgespan Group in partnership with Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP) finds that when funders neglect Native communities, they squander an opportunity to become more effective grantmakers and shortchange their potential for impact against their own stated philanthropic goals. Our research draws on insights from interviews and listening sessions with more than 40 leaders from Native communities across the United States and offers funders practical advice on partnering with Native people to build a better world.

Currently, less than one percent of philanthropic dollars explicitly benefits Native Americans, and Native-led organizations receive roughly only half of that funding. Native-focused philanthropic portfolios remain exceedingly rare among philanthropic institutions, and only 20 percent of large foundations give to Native communities and causes at all. Even funders who increased their overall support for communities of color in recent years often continued to overlook Native communities.

Given the current backdrop of federal funding to Tribal Nations and Native communities, the need for philanthropic engagement is only heightened. Some Native organizations, like NDN Collective, have launched responsive funds in anticipation of the federal funding gap.

We see the audience for this publication as funders curious about engaging Native communities and Tribal Nations, but who remain unsure how to make the case, how to approach the work, or where to get started. This report aspires to support their journeys and provide examples from the experience of other funders already engaging in this work. We present our full research in three parts:

• Part One. Assets and Attributes—Understanding the Strengths of Native Communities: A primer for funders new to engagement with Native communities
• Part Two. Bright Spots—Entry Points for Funders to Support Native Communities: An analysis of ready entry points for funder engagement
• Part Three. Bigger, Bolder— Next-Level Opportunities to Support Native Communities: An exploration of a set of bolder opportunities ripe for funders ready to deepen their commitment to Native communities and Tribal Nations.

Understanding the Strengths of Native Communities

The federal government recognizes 574 Tribal nations, but there are at least 400 additional tribes that it fails to recognize. Native people and their communities have kept alive 167 Native languages, and control approximately 56 million acres. Navajo Nation alone is bigger than Maryland and Massachusetts combined.

Many Tribal Nations have strong and growing economies that serve as economic engines for entire regions. Tribal Nations and their affiliated entities employ almost 350,000 workers and indirectly support an additional 600,000 jobs. These jobs generate $40 billion per year in wages and benefits, along with an additional $9 billion spillover impact in state and regional economies.

“These are living, contemporary cultures with a future, not just with a traumatic past,” says Kevin Walker (non-Native), head of the Northwest Area Foundation, a funder with a growing portfolio of grants to Native communities and Native-led organizations.  For Walker and many non-Native people, that can mean “you have to relearn what country we're in. You’ve got to get through the pervasive ignorance and avoidance. You have to want to go there.”

In fact, in our discussions with Native leaders, many shared that constantly being expected to serve as educators is exhausting and retraumatizing. They urge funders to do their homework and not burden Native peoples with that work. (In Part One of our report, we offer funders a starter list of concepts to understand.)

“There are a lot of smart people that work in philanthropy, and yet so many have little to no understanding of how Native people have come to be in our current society,” says Dr. Dana Arviso (Diné), director of Indigenous programs at the Decolonizing Wealth Project. “I think that non-Native people equate Native people and poverty as synonymous without interrogating the history of the United States, without understanding that settler colonialism, land theft, and extraction of natural resources are what caused poverty.”

The Five Rs: Values of Indigenous Philanthropy

Many Native leaders we spoke with suggested that truly transformative change begins when philanthropy embraces Indigenous values and ways into its own work.

Scholars such as LaDonna Harris (Comanche), founder and president of Americans for Indian Opportunity, have identified and documented hallmarks of the Indigenous worldview that are common across Indigenous communities around the world. These characteristics of Indigeneity—taken individually or collectively—frame values and approaches distinctive from Western cultures. Native Americans in Philanthropy, building on the work of International Funders for Indigenous Peoples, has adapted these hallmarks into a framework of five Rs for philanthropy to embrace Indigenous ways that could lead to greater impact across all grantee relationships.

• Respect. Honor the cultural values and traditions of Native communities. Demonstrating an understanding of the historical and ongoing effects of colonialism and oppression is also important.
• Reciprocity. Share and receive resources and knowledge with Native peoples in a way that embodies a balanced exchange between all parties.
• Responsibility. Make funding decisions in a way that is accountable to Native communities.
• Relationships. Share power and decision making with Native communities.
• Redistribution. Influence processes and structures that will direct funding to Native leaders.

How to Authentically Engage and Support Native Peoples

Over the course of our research, Native leaders shared helpful advice for funders who want to engage with Native communities. Here are the top five tips along with how each connect to one or more of the five Rs of Indigenous philanthropy.

1. Do your internal work. Educate your organization about Native history, context, and culture to better inform your giving and to become competent in your engagement with Native communities. (See respect in “The Five Rs: Values of Indigenous Philanthropy.”)
2. Show up and listen. Be present and proximate to Native communities. Don’t just drop in and leave—take the time to develop relationships and be in consistent community. Engage with humility and inquiry, not preconceived answers. (See respect and relationships in “The Five Rs: Values of Indigenous Philanthropy.”)
3. Hire Native staff and leadership. Expand your networks to successfully recruit and better support Native staff, senior leaders, and board members. Native staff and leadership bring the visibility, relationships, lived experience, and expertise in the complexities of Tribal context. (See respect and reciprocity in “The Five Rs: Values of Indigenous Philanthropy.”)
4. Loosen the grip. Provide flexible, long-term capital and define success collaboratively. Work with Native partners to conceive and define metrics that resonate with their communities. (See redistribution in “The Five Rs: Values of Indigenous Philanthropy.”)
5. Just do it. Prioritize funding Native communities—set the intention, get educated, cultivate authentic relationships, and then get going even outside of a fully developed strategy. Many Native leaders shared a sense of frustration and disillusionment from past experiences with funders who have engaged in dialogue but not followed up with substantive action. See responsibility in “The Five Rs: Values of Indigenous Philanthropy.”)

Embrace the Opportunity

There are entry points for investment in Native communities for any funder. Often these investments can fit current portfolios and priorities, no matter a funder’s issue area or geographical focus. If your giving is anchored by a desire to serve more people within existing target populations, or support programs to advance existing issue area objectives, or if you have a place-based giving strategy, maybe your giving is motivated by values as you grapple with the origins of your wealth, or perhaps you are eager to support innovation—all are strategies that can be satisfied by investing in Native communities and Native-led nonprofits. 

Entry points for investment are outlined in part two of the full report, Bright Spots. For funders with an appetite for greater complexity and longer horizons, our conversations with Native leaders surfaced some bolder investment opportunities—systemic solutions that could be transformative for Native and non-Native communities alike—that are outlined in part three of the full report, Bigger, Bolder.

As you will read in the full report, Native communities accomplish extraordinary things—in every state, across urban and rural landscapes, in a wide range of issue areas—all despite innumerable constraints and obstacles, including limited financial resources. It means the potential for impact is so much more. “Look at what these communities are doing with pennies,” says Tayshu Bommelyn (Tolowa Dee-ni’, Karuk, Wintu), senior program officer with Native Cultures Fund. “Can you imagine what they could do if they had dollars?”