Board and Staff Representation and Grantmaking in Community Foundations: The Effect of Racial Representation, Intersectionality, and Donor Control

As the United States continues its significant demographic shift, concerns persist about philanthropic responsiveness to the needs of diverse communities. While foundations aim to address societal challenges, historical leadership structures can pose barriers to equitable outcomes. This raises questions about the representativeness of philanthropy to the broader public. The theory of representative bureaucracy establishes a framework for understanding the connection between representation and outcomes, positing that passive representation, which is bureaucrats share the same demographic origins as the general population, will result in active representation, which is producing policy outputs that benefit the interests of individuals who are passively represented. This study applies the theory of representative bureaucracy to nonprofits, specifically examining the case of community foundations in the United States. It investigates the influence of racial representation, the intersectionality across race and gender among representatives, and the impact of donor control on grant allocations to underserved groups. Key questions examined include: Does a positive relationship exist between racial representation in board and staff in community foundations and grant allocations to grantee organizations serving people of color? Does intersectional representation yield stronger results than solely racial representation? Does increased donor control weaken the positive relationship between board and staff members’ representation and grant allocations to grantee organizations serving people of color? This study utilizes longitudinal data spanning from 2012 to 2016, collected from a national sample of community foundations. The findings contribute both theoretically and practically to the understanding of the relationships among representation, discretion, and grant-making outcomes within the nonprofit sector.