The Chronicle of Philanthropy (Op-Ed): Foundations, It’s Time to Give 1% of Your Assets to Fix Democracy

Today, the foundations of our republic are cracking. The rule of law, the underpinning of our entire system of government, is being challenged from the White House. Foreign powers are interfering in our elections. Congress is gridlocked and consumed by hyperpartisanship. Only half of Americans believe the 2020 elections will be fair, people don’t think elected leaders have their best interests at heart, and impeachment is further dividing Washington.

To begin fixing these and other systemic problems, it is time for American philanthropists to begin fixing democracy as a core part of their missions.

Over the next decade, at least 1 percent of total philanthropic giving should be directed toward this goal. Right now, just over one-tenth of 1 percent of more than $400 billion in charitable giving funds work to strengthen our democracy. That is less than one Dunkin’ Donuts coffee per person per year. In comparison, the largest organizations in environmental, health, and human services fields have individual budgets larger than the entire movement dedicated to bolstering democracy. That’s no longer sustainable.

Here’s why: Democracy is a work in progress and requires constant renewal. But philanthropy’s lack of investment in groups that protect our system of government means organizations that work to strengthen and defend democratic principles and values have been resource starved for decades. Now we are all paying the price for it.

Time-tested grassroots organizations, such as Common Cause, dominate much of the space with expenses of less than $20 million each year. Common Cause, for instance, couples a D.C. strategy with chapters in 30 states and millions of grassroots members working to champion a panoply of efforts to strengthen democracy, involving voting, ethics, accountability, and other matters.

Now imagine if their budgets were $100 million. Their membership could expand across all 50 states, and they could win policies that would reduce corruption that much faster. They could establish pipelines to pass institutional knowledge from one generation to the next. For the first time in years, these groups could stop worrying about whether each program they start will shutter one year later from lack of support.