Philanthropy in the Time of Covid-19

Graphic of a cut down tree helping people cross a cliff.

What are we going to do to shift the balance of power & resources?

Over the last couple of weeks, foundations and donors have made proclamations about how this crisis will change their giving practice.

Many have tried to prove how the crisis has been a turning point towards greater trust, transparency, and giving. As a new resident of Seattle, and the incoming president of one of the nation’s largest foundations supporting low-income families, I find myself in the epicenter of COVID-19 in more ways than one.


Philanthropy’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, with rare exceptions, is lacking urgency and imagination.

It is reminiscent of our behavior during the financial crisis of 2008, hurricanes Maria in Puerto Rico and Katrina in New Orleans, and the unrest in Ferguson: emails extolling our generosity and reflection, the creation of rapid response funds with little accountability or oversight to guarantee money gets to those people who need it most, and to stepping into roles that should belong to our government.

For those of us who work for and lead philanthropic institutions, we have an opportunity to do something different right now.

We had this chance in 2008, too. Instead, after the financial collapse, many foundations followed the advice of bankers as opposed to heeding the calls of their grant recipients, of organizers and activists, or of community members. They acted conservatively and worried more about the perpetuity of their institutions than about the more pressing needs of the people whose faces and stories filled their websites and collateral. They engaged in ‘strategic planning’ and ‘research and learning’ to absolve themselves of their true responsibility: getting money out to organize people; getting money out to organizations that are imagining and creating a more just world; getting money out to those serving our most vulnerable community members.

What is becoming especially clear in the midst of this pandemic, was clear in 2008 too, is that foundations need to be clear about who we are supporting and how we are supporting them.

First, foundations need to support leaders who have long been committed to a robust safety net, just democracy and a fair economy. 

These leaders need the resources to seize this moment and make any gains that are being made in response to the crisis permanent features of our society. These are the organizers that have been fighting to abolish the prison and immigration industrial complex. These are the advocates who have tirelessly pushed for universal care, paid leave, and guaranteed protections for every worker. These are the writers and artists who have worked to bring every last one of us to the center of our common story. We have an unprecedented opportunity to give money to those people who have been waiting, preparing, and training for a better us. A huge mistake would be to assume that we should step in where the state has failed further privatizing key institutions, benefits, and services.

Second, we need to challenge and change the norms of our sector. 

All funding should be general operating support funding. It’s absurd that organizations are trying to figure out how to become remote, meet critical needs, or advocate for structural change while trying to meet grant deliverables at this moment. If funding excludes lights, paper, pens, and the other essential infrastructure for achieving organizational goals, you do not really want your partners to be successful. In addition to universalizing general support, we also need to reset the payout requirement. Today, foundations are required to give out 5% of our endowments. That means, for many institutions, 95% of their resources are tied up in a financial market that has actively worked against our communities. At the very least, foundations should commit to keeping giving at 2019 levels, when we realized the gains of a distorted market. This moment and our future is calling us to go above and beyond. Consider this a rule of thumb: reduce the size of your organization before reducing the size of your grants.

Third, and most controversially, I am calling for us to get really clear about the ways we use our platforms & partnerships against our mission. 

To paraphrase Anand Giridharadas’ in Winner Takes All, generosity is not a substitute for a more just and equitable system and a fairer distribution of power. When foundations partner with Mark Zuckerberg, turning a blind eye to the ways his wealth is built upon the destruction of our democracy, or Jeff Bezos, ignoring the labor practices that have placed the lives and livelihoods of millions in the balance, or anyone who has sought to use their philanthropy to confuse their actual impact on the world around us, we send a signal to our partners about who we think is a necessary protagonist in creating a more just and equitable world. When we take money from these people or their foundations, when we stand in pictures next to them celebrating their contributions, when we lift them up as leaders, we are actively ignoring the ways in which their fortunes and foundations are the product of a system that stands on the necks of our people. We reinforce the notion that ‘after the fact’ benevolence justifies anything-goes capitalism; that callousness and injustice in the cutthroat souk excused by later philanthropy’.

Being committed to freedom and justice doesn’t require a months-long strategic process. It’s as simple as choosing to be in relationship to those who offer proximity to humanity and opposition to power as it currently exists; choosing to give more and in the form of general operating support; and supporting organizing and advocacy as opposed to privatizing, what should be, services and benefits of a functioning state. We can choose to support leaders across the country to imagine, try, create, and build what we know is possible: an equitable distribution of power, resources, and voice for all of us.

Carmen Rojas, Phd, is committed to being of service to those who dream in the direction of freedom. She is the founder of The Workers Lab, and the incoming President of Marguerite Casey Foundation.

This Viral Video Game Is Changing the Face of Voter Outreach

In 2024, voting campaigns have evolved greatly, to say the least. Creativity is now the name of the game and tongue-in-cheek humor is expertly leveraged to drive action. One example of that is Bop the Bigot, a revival of a viral game created in 2016 by Bazta Arpaio, an Arizona activist group, as part of a campaign to unseat Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio lost his re-election to Paul Penzone that year.

The game has now been updated for the current election cycle and relaunched by On Point Studios, with new features added to enable players to find out what’s on their ballot, confirm voter status, and register to vote.

Much like its former 2016 version, the game allows users to take out their political frustrations by virtually “bopping” GOP candidates in the head. It’s very similar to whack-a-mole, except the mole is replaced by former President Donald Trump, Ohio’s Senator J. D. Vance, and Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, which is spearheading Project 2025.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

B. Loewe, Director of On Point Studios, came up with the concept for this game when working as the Communications Director at Bazta Arpaio in 2016, and is the executive producer of this revamped version. In the first version of the game, Bop the Bigot players used a chancla (flip flop) to “bop” the characters, tapping into Latino culture by leaning on the childhood experience of being set right by a flying chancla from a fed-up mother or grandmother.

This year, the chancla is replaced by a more current element, a green coconut, referencing Kamala Harris’ coconut tree meme. There are also side characters like “the couch,” cat ladies, and more coconuts. All references to jokes about Vice-Presidential candidate Vance, or insults Vance has made about women on the campaign trail.

Another new addition is that Harris’ laugh is immortalized as the game-over sound effect, an unexpected detail that adds even more humor and levity to the game.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump, Kevin Roberts, and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

Bop the Bigot, which is playable on desktop and mobile, is intended not just as a way to vent political frustrations, but also as a tool for activism and securing voter engagement.

For example, the game supports the work of Mexican Neidi Dominguez Zamorano, Founding Executive Director of the non-profit organization Organized Power in Numbers by using the “game over” screen to prompt players to donate to it and support their efforts.

Organized Power in Numbers is focused on empowering workers in the South and Southwest of the U.S. through collective action and comprehensive campaigns. Their mission is to create a large-scale movement that challenges the status quo and advocates for workers' rights, and racial and economic justice.

Currently, Dominguez Zamorano is leading worker outreach to 2 million working-class voters in the South and Southwest through doorknocking, texting, and calls with the help of local groups in North Carolina, Arizona, New Mexico, and more.

“We have been blown away by the enthusiastic reception for the video game. We knew we wanted to be part of its creative approach because our movement needs more fun and laughter. We need more ways to connect with nuestra gente so we can feel joy among all the absurdity we witness every day,” Dominguez Zamorano shared with Luz Media via email.

“Our people are gente trabajadora and we deserve to feel uplifted even in our toughest moments. We are deeply involved in the South and Southwest so we know what’s at stake in this election and we’re happy this can be a resource to mobilize, raise spirits, and get out the vote," she concluded.

Dominguez Zamorano is a committed activist for immigrants and workers' rights, known for her strategist skills and expertise. She played a key role in the campaign to win DACA and has also held roles in major campaigns, including as Deputy National States Director for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. In addition to her work with Organized Power in Numbers, Dominguez Zamorano is serving as a Senior Advisor to Mijente’s Fuera Trump Initiative.

Grassroots efforts like these have taken on new life in 2024, with Bop the Bigot adding to the larger, ongoing fight against political apathy and disinformation. Just as it did during the 2016 race, the video game uses humor to soften the serious task at hand—getting people to the polls.

"We want the game to be a fun and comical outlet for anyone who’s been insulted, frustrated, or harmed by Trump in the past and everyone who is ready to move forward as a country after election day," explained Loewe in a press release. "The proposals in Project 2025 and the beliefs of Trump and Vance aren’t just weird, they’re truly harmful. We wanted to give people a humorous and peaceful way to smack down their racism and sexism. We hope it makes people laugh and also feel empowered and motivated to get to the polls on or before election day."

With a mix of satire, sharp political critique, and nostalgia, the game is a call to action. The upcoming election, which is getting closer by the minute, has sparked fierce activism and creative yet grounded initiatives like these aim to ensure voters are engaged, especially young Latinos and disenfranchised groups.

hands holding up yellow protest signs that say Hands Off Our Bodies
Photo Credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash

Originally published in Common Dreams. Reprinted with permission.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

In November, abortion rights measures will appear on ballots across ten states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New York, where Latinos make up a significant portion of the electorate. For decades, pundits and politicians have recycled long-held misconceptions about Latino voters and abortion access, citing our conservative and religious beliefs.

Anti-abortion extremists have long fueled these misconceptions through misinformation and disinformation campaigns targeting Latino communities with egregious lies and inflammatory rhetoric about abortion. Yet, polling, focus groups, and direct interactions with Latino communities have debunked these outdated tropes.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

For Latinos, the freedom to decide, a pillar of our American democracy, is critical. Meanwhile, Latinos are being hit directly with anti-abortion efforts that take away that freedom such as the six-week abortion ban put into effect by the Florida Supreme Court and the 1864 abortion ban upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, people of color and Latinas have felt the impact of a lack of abortion access, an element of basic healthcare.

A 2023 report by the National Partnership for Women and Families estimated that nearly 6.5 million Latinas, or 42% of all Latinas of reproductive age in the country, live in a state that either had or was likely to ban abortion. Ironically, it will be abortion access and anti-choice efforts to restrict freedom of choice that will mobilize Latino voters this election.

In a poll conducted by three national reproductive justice organizations, 87% of Latinas named abortion and women’s rights as one of their top priorities as they head to the polls. Another battleground poll conducted by Somos PAC and BSP Research found that 61% of Latino registered voters expressed a more positive/favorable view of Kamala Harris after hearing that she will protect abortion rights, versus only 19% of Latinos who said they had a more negative view of Harris after hearing that.

In key states to secure the White House and both chambers, Latinos make up large chunks of the electorate: Arizona (25%), Colorado (15%), Florida (20%), Nevada (20%), and New York (12%). In the face of unprecedented attacks on basic healthcare access and targeted attempts by extremists to mislead and divide our community on this issue, this November Latinos will be key deciders on abortion access across the country.

Mari Urbina, Managing Director of Indivisible, Battleground Arizona Lead and former Harry Reid advisor.

Héctor Sánchez Barba is president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota (MFV).