FCCP Congratulates Census Funders + Partners on IPPY Recognition
On December 28, 2021, Inside Philanthropy announced its 2021 IP Philanthropy Awards. The organizing of philanthropy around the 2020 Census was recognized as follows:
Best Victory: The 2020 Census – Counting everyone in the U.S. is hard enough without political inference—which is why foundations invested heavily in ensuring that things went smoothly. This year, we learned that the census was largely a success. Philanthropy gets some of the credit.
The above announcement links to an Inside Philanthropy Article from April 9, 2021, COVID and the Count: Funders Confront New Challenges to the 2020 Census, which notes:
To effect a rapid shift to digital, many census funders are acting as their peers across the sector have done during COVID: offering grantees greater flexibility, holding listening sessions, increasing general operating support and rolling out rapid-response funds. “In general, there is an even greater need for collaboration, trust and transparency as organizations make adjustments now at the same time that they plan for an uncertain future,” said Jocelyn Bissonnette, director of the Funders Census Initiative at the Funders Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP).
A working group of FCCP members, the Funders Census Initiative (FCI) is an important nexus in philanthropy’s effort to ensure a fair and accurate count. FCI works closely with the Census Subgroup, serving as a resource hub and conducting outreach to state and local funders.
FCCP thanks all census funders and partners for their commitment to ensuring a fair and accurate count in 2020 and for your engagement in the work of the Funders Census Initiative. This “2021 victory” remains ongoing as we seek to ensure the Census Bureau better centers equity moving forward. Join us as we seek to fulfill our Blueprint for Philanthropic Census Engagement for the next decade.