Civic participation – the active engagement of people in the decision-making processes that shape their communities and their lives – is critical to a healthy society. In fact, we only realize the full promise of democracy when people participate; when all segments of a community have fair and equal access to institutions of government and meaningful opportunities to voice their opinions about important issues driving the public policy agenda.

About Us

The Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) is an innovative and thought-provoking network that shares an underlying conviction that all people deserve a voice in the democratic process. We serve leaders in the philanthropic community working to further this vision with heightened attention to sociopolitical inequity and the systemic disenfranchisement of underrepresented communities. FCCP values transparency, encourages a diversity of opinion, bases our work on sound research, and encourages experimentation to improve impact. 

What began as the “Ad Hoc Funders’ Committee for Voter Registration and Education” soon crystallized into the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation when the organization was officially founded in 1983. From advancing voter registration efforts in the 1980s, to supporting campaign finance reform in the 1990s, to investing in new voting technologies and election administration reform in the 2000s, FCCP has served as a catalyst for philanthropy’s growing civic engagement community.  Today, we work to build an effective network of grantmakers who are passionate about realizing our collective vision of a vibrant and inclusive democracy for all.

Through member-driven and field-informed programming, FCCP provides funders with a community in which to build connections, exchange ideas, showcase innovations, and collaborate to make smart funding decisions. Our members support non-partisan efforts to engage voters, eliminate structural barriers to voting, advance reforms to improve government and electoral systems, and increase public involvement in civic life. Our signature programs for grantmakers include an annual convening, regular virtual discussions, working groups that focus on a range of key issue topics, and member-only meetings.

Theory of Impact

In February 2017, FCCP staff and Advisory Board came together to ask a critical question: how can FCCP be what the field needs at this moment? This prompt, which continued a common thread from previous strategic planning retreats, highlighted the need to both continue to provide high-quality educational content and outreach as well as move towards a more impact-oriented network strategy. After years of working from an implied theory, the organization went through an extensive process with the membership to develop an explicit and transparent theory of impact. 

Now, as we develop our programming and structure our membership activity, we are guided by our theory and the vision: FCCP seeks a society where impacted communities have the POWER to make a difference on issues that affect their lives, a CULTURE OF PARTICIPATION that inspires their engagement, and an OPEN + EQUITABLE DEMOCRACY which offers meaningful opportunities to exercise their voice.

Learn more about our Theory of Impact here.

Member Organizations

FCCP is a Council on Foundations-recognized philanthropic affinity group with nearly 90 institutional members and dozens of additional philanthropic colleagues that regularly participate in its programming. We welcome all grantmaking institutions that are interested in democratic change issues or civic engagement strategies and who have demonstrated through their grantmaking that their values align with our mission.

Join or Renew

AAPI Civic Engagement Fund
Access Strategies Fund
Adrienne Bousian
Agua Fund
AL Advising
Amalgamated Foundation
American Journalism Project
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Arabella Advisors
Arca Foundation
Arkay Foundation
Aspen Institute
Aviv Foundation
Bauman Foundation
California Community Foundation
California Donor Table Fund
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Chambers Initiative
Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
Dancing Hearts Consulting
Democracy Alliance
Democracy Fund
Denise Whinnen
Doris & Victor Day Foundation
East Bay Community Foundation
Ed Zuckerman Consulting
Eric Marshall
Fetzer Institute
Ford Foundation
Foundation for Civic Leadership
Four Freedoms Fund
Gaia Fund
General Service Foundation
George Gund Foundation
Groundswell Fund
Group Health Foundation
Grove Foundation
Guy Cammilleri
Heising-Simons Foundation
Houston Endowment
Hull Family Foundation
Hyams Foundation
Irving Harris Foundation
Johnson Family Foundation
Joyce Foundation
Kansas Health Foundation
Leland Fikes Foundation
Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund
Marguerite Casey Foundation
Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
McKnight Foundation
Media Democracy Fund
Mertz Gilmore Foundation
Meyer Foundation
Meyer Memorial Trust
More Equitable Democracy
Movement Voter Project
National Education Association
Needmor Fund
NEO Philanthropy
New Media Ventures
Norman Foundation
North Star Civic Foundation
Northwest Health Foundation
Open Society Foundations
Panta Rhea Foundation
Piece by Piece Strategies
Piper Fund, a Proteus Fund initiative
Progress Alliance of Washington
Progressive Multiplier Fund
Resilient Democracy Fund
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Rockefeller Family Fund
San Francisco Foundation
Seattle Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Skoll Foundation
Solidago Foundation
State Infrastructure Fund
Stoneman Family Foundations
Summer Fund II
Surdna Foundation
Susan Sandler Fund
The Andrew Goodman Foundation
The California Endowment
The California Wellness Foundation
The Educational Foundation of America
The Fund for New Jersey
The James Irvine Foundation
The JPB Foundation
The Libra Foundation
The New York Women’s Foundation
The Partnership Funds
The Sapelo Foundation
The WhyNot Initiative
Thornburg Foundation
Unbound Philanthropy
Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock
Ventus Charitable Foundation
Vitalyst Health Foundation
Voqal
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Wallace Global Fund
Wallace H. Coulter Foundation
Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
WIN Minnesota
WKF Giving Fund
Woodbury Fund
Youth Engagement Fund
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation

 

Staff

LaShanda A. Jackson

Executive Director
LaShanda Jackson is a social justice activist, defender of democracy, and advocate for racial equity whose career in philanthropy and organizing spans nearly two decades. Read More…

Paul S. Ryan

Deputy Executive Director
Paul Seamus Ryan joined the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation as Deputy Executive Director in April 2022. Read More…

Jocelyn Bissonnette

Special Projects Director
Jocelyn Bissonnette (she/her) is the Special Projects Director at FCCP, where she leads the organization’s Funders Census Initiative (FCI) and redistricting program. Read More…

Elizabeth Shapiro

Membership and Development Director
Elizabeth Shapiro (she/her) is FCCP’s Membership and Development Director. She leads FCCP’s donor cultivation activities and develop member-engagement programs to deepen support for FCCP’s work and civic engagement grantmaking. Read More…

Jenna Patel

Program Coordinator
Jenna Patel recently joined FCCP as a Program Coordinator and is extremely excited to work for an organization that centers their work around building an equitable democracy and establishing intersectional racial justice.  Read More…

Advisory Board

Estevan Muñoz-Howard

Estevan Muñoz-Howard is a philanthropic and organizational consultant with over 15 years experience leading programs and coalitions in the nonprofit sector. Read More…

Evan Bacalao

Open Society Foundations
Evan Bacalao is a program officer with the Open Society Foundations, where he manages a range of civic participation and advocacy initiatives focused on the resilience and representativeness of U.S. Read More…

Denise Cardinal

WIN Minnesota
Denise Cardinal is the Executive Director of WIN Minnesota, a state-based donor collaborative that has been operating in the North Star for over a decade. Read More…