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SDG Guiding Principles 
#8: Equity
From the SDG Guiding Principles Purpose:
 
The principles are "designed to promote greater awareness and stimulate vibrant, healthy discourse among SDG members about good governance and practice."

December 2008 

In This Issue
Bringing Guiding Principles to Life
SDG Guiding Principle #8: Equity
Suggestions for Practice
Related Resources
Upcoming Programs
Quick Links
 
Bringing Guiding Principles to Life
 
Ways To Use this E-Newsletter:
  • Quickly scan the list of suggestions below to see if there are some practices your organization might want to consider.
  • Use each Guiding Principles newsletter, or the entire list of SDG Guiding Principles (pdf), to guide a board or staff meeting about your internal practices.  
We have worked throughout this year to bring our newly-adopted set of Guiding Principles to life, so that they are not just words on a page but rather guidelines for action. Our objective is to provide you with a relevant and powerful framework to help you conduct your philanthropy according to the highest standards of effectiveness and accountability.  One means by which we will do this is to focus on each principle in a monthly newsletter. In this final newsletter, we finish with principle #8:  Equity.
 
Click here (pdf) for the entire set of Guiding Principles. You can also click here to see the other Regional Associations of Grantmakers that have adopted Guiding Principles.
 
Several SDG members have let us know that they are bringing the Guiding Principles to their boards and engaging in conversation about how they apply to their organizations. Some members are considering formally adopting the principles themselves as a sign of commitment. Let us know if you are considering doing so, or if we can provide any additional resources to you as you discuss the principles.
SDG Guiding Principle #8: Equity
 
We believe in fairness, equal access and opportunity and that society as a whole advances when people, regardless of race, class or other social differences, are able to achieve a better quality of life.
 
As a community inspired by a vision of a better world, we believe that equity is a moral imperative that both stimulates and shapes philanthropy. 
Suggestions for Practice 
 
There are different ways to implement each of the Guiding Principles depending on the nature of your grantmaking entity. For example, what works for a corporate giving program may be different than what works for a small family foundation. By adhering to the spirit of these principles in a way that applies to your specific circumstances, you demonstrate your commitment to maintaining the public trust in organized philanthropy. Here, we share some suggestions gathered from our colleagues for implementing Principle #8:  Equity.
  • Employ multiple strategies to further your organization's mission including investing in public policy advocacy and other efforts that support the structural changes needed for a more equitable and just society.
  • Organized philanthropy can enhance its ability to contribute to the common good in a changing society by including in its work a range of perspectives, opinions and experiences from people representing diversity of ethnicity, race, gender, economic circumstance, sexual orientation, disability and philosophy.
  • Organized philanthropy is a powerful tool for creating and sustaining societal benefit. The common good is enhanced when philanthropists come together for collective action to increase their impact and effectiveness.  
  • Explore social justice grantmaking:  see related resources below.
Thanks to Council on Foundations and Northern California Grantmakers for these suggestions.
Related Resources 
Upcoming SDG Programs 

Click here for a complete list of SDG programs. 
 
Working Group Meetings
Child Welfare Funders: December 16
  
Click here for more information about all of these SDG programs. All programs are free for SDG members except where indicated. To RSVP, please call (619) 744-2180 or email programs@sdgrantmakers.org.
 
FUNDRAISING STIPULATION: 
SDG was developed so that grantmakers (staff and trustees) could talk candidly with their peers about the challenges they face. With that in mind, we wish to impress upon members and potential members that fundraising or marketing is not allowed at any of SDG's programs, meetings, or other events.
This online newsletter is published by San Diego Grantmakers to help SDG members meet the challenges of philanthropy today. Our mission is to connect, educate, develop, and inspire a diverse group of foundations and corporations to stimulate effective philanthropy in the San Diego region. Copies of past editions are archived here.
 
Contact Nancy Jamison, 619/744.2180 or nancy@sdgrantmakers.org to suggest article ideas or submit news items.