Nearly a third of Black-led nonprofits operate on budgets of $30,000 a year or less, according to Young Black Giving Back Institute. And many of those nonprofits are largely made up of volunteers.

That’s what led local activist, advocate and anti-racism educator DiDi Delgado to bring the national movement of Black Philanthrop y Month to the commonwealth.
 
Her hard work paid off: Gov. Maura Healey signed a proclamation recognizing Black Philanthropy Month earlier this month, a first for Massachusetts.

Delgado, who founded the antiracism and fundraising organization Restore National, Inc., said she had noticed how a lot of Black-led nonprofits see a problem in their communities and want to fix it.

“Then they get really ostracized and pushed out from funding opportunities because they don’t have budgets that other nonprofits who are well-established and have different resources and models,” she said.

In a statement, Healey said this proclamation brings awareness to the philanthropic efforts of Black communities in the commonwealth.

“This proclamation ... aims to educate the public about their work. Here in Massachusetts, we are proud to recognize and support our Black philanthropies and the ways they uplift their communities,” Healey said.

According to the national movement’s website, Black Philanthropy Month is “a global celebration and concerted campaign to elevate African-descent giving and funding equity.”

Now that there is an official proclamation in the commonwealth, Delgado hopes it will lend support to Black organizers and Black-led nonprofits through her organization.

Some of their most recent local initiatives include Rent For Moms, which helps cover rent expenses for single Black mothers, and Virtual Craft Fair, in which local crafters sell pieces online, helping fund Black artists.

“We’re not being able to revolutionize our communities because we’re leaving our communities behind,” Delgado said.

While Delgado spearheaded this Massachusetts effort, she had help on the national level from Floyd Jones, the Community Engagement chair for Black Philanthropy Month.

His company, BackBlack, works to bring awareness and capital to Black-led and Black-benefitting nonprofits. He says in working with big institutions, Jones said a major issue is not knowing where the Black-led nonprofits are, since they are often disparate and fractured by design.

“We have to start going together. That is what the work of Black Philanthropy Month has been over the last 20 years. It starts with awareness, and then when people know about it, they can give to it. And when they give to it, that’s when we can start seeing the growth,” Jones said.

Awareness, Jones said, must be followed up by action. And that is where real change begins to happen.