By 'communities experiencing racial inequity', we mean people who experience inequity as a result of their race or ethnic group. Ethnic group refers to the group that people self-identify with, which may be related to their national or geographic origin, skin colours, and other identities.
Using the DEI Data Standard, we want to have a better understanding of who our funding is reaching and to help us identify structural inequity in our funding practice. This page shares initial analysis of data we gathered on our funding and applications received during October 2021 to September 2022 in relation to communities experiencing racial inequity.
Racial justice is one of our funding priorities in A Fairer Future, and we hope this data will help us make progress towards our goals alongside our commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Communities experiencing racial inequity in our funding and applications
Charts 1 and 2 show the percentage and number of organisations (in brackets) we classify as 'communities experiencing racial inequity' for the three areas we asked organisations about: the communities the work supports, the organisation's leadership, and the organisation's mission. It further breaks the data down by a specific ethnicity where relevant. Organisations could also select 'all communities experiencing racial inequity'.
They also show the number of organisations whose work, leadership or mission did not specifically relate to 'communities experiencing racial inequity'. We have classified them as 'no specific group'.
What we found:
- Across both sets of data (for our funding and applications), a higher percentage of organisations said their work and mission specifically targets communities experiencing racial inequity compared to the percentage of organisations who said they are led by communities experiencing racial inequity. (See charts 1 and 2)
- In our funding sample, the data gathered for 'communities the work supports' and 'mission' are similar: 13% of organisations in our funding said their work supports communities experiencing racial inequity AND the organisation's mission specifically targets communities experiencing racial inequity. A small number of these (3.5%) support specific communities experiencing racial inequity, for instance: six organisations said their work mainly supports Black communities. However, a smaller percentage (7.4%) of the sample are led by communities experiencing racial inequity. (See chart 1)
- The data we have on applications shows a similar trend with a smaller percentage of organisations saying they are led by communities experiencing racial inequity (9.3%) compared to the percentage of organisations whose mission and work supports communities experiencing racial inequity (15.1% and 17.5% respectively). (See chart 2)
Our funding vs applications
Chart 3 shows how our funding compares to data we have gathered on applications received. Figures show the percentage that we have classified as 'communities experiencing racial inequity' for the communities the work supports, the organisation's leadership, and the organisation's mission.
What we found:
- When comparing our funding to applications, a higher percentage of applications for each area (communities the work supports, leadership, and mission) relate specifically to communities experiencing racial inequity.
Average amount awarded
Chart 4 shows the average amount awarded in our funding, and compares the average amount awarded for our total funding portfolio with funding for work specifically supporting communities experiencing racial inequity, and funding for organisations led by communities experiencing racial inequity.
What we found:
- When looking at the average amount awarded to organisations, those that relate specifically to communities experiencing racial inequity were for lower amounts than the average amount awarded for our total funding portfolio. It shows the average amount awarded to organisations whose work targets communities experiencing racial inequity was £177,483, and the average amount awarded to organisations led by communities experiencing racial inequity was £168,000. This is 16% and 20% lower than the average amount awarded for our total funding portfolio, which was £210,824.
Our funding - by aim
Chart 5 shows the percentage of our funding that we classify as 'communities experiencing racial inequity' along with which of our aims the grant aligns to most closely.
What we found:
- In terms of alignment to Esmée's strategy, the majority of funding that relates to communities experiencing racial inequity is towards A Fairer Future. For instance, of the 56 grants awarded for work to support communities experiencing racial inequity, 46 (10.7% of our funding) of those were in a Fairer Future, and of the 32 grants awarded to organisations led by communities experiencing racial inequity, 29 (6.7% of our funding) were in a Fairer Future.
