This digital archive makes available a series of publications produced through the Philanthropy and the Black Church project of the later 20th century, which was housed at the Council on Foundations in Washington DC.  

Starting in 1981, the Council on Foundations initiated a special Religious Philanthropy project to examine ways in which organized philanthropy and religious institutions could work collaboratively to address community needs.  Ambassador James Joseph, who was the Council’s president in those years, put it this way. “Grantmakers will only put stumbling blocks in the way of social change if they place too much emphasis on keeping faith and good works separate.” 

This project led to the Council’s publication of The Philanthropy of Organized Religion in 1984, where it also became evident that the field would benefit from a closer scrutiny of grantmaking relationships with Black churches in particular. 

From May 31 – June 1, 1989, the Council held a conference at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, DC with the theme, “Grantmakers and Black Churches: Cooperating to Achieve Community Goals.” Fifty grantmakers and Black religious leaders gathered to dialogue and strategize about ways in which collaboration could occur. They defined the term “collaboration” to refer to the ways in which philanthropic institutions and Black churches could collectively utilize their resources to develop more effective community programs and services. What emerged became the Philanthropy and Black Church Project, with a national office at the Council on Foundations and support from Lilly Endowment Inc., Ford Foundation, and other philanthropies. 

Among its activities, the Council’s office organized the publication of a series of booklets, papers, conference proceedings, and memoranda containing research and insight into the possibilities and challenges of partnerships between religious organizations and philanthropic organizations, with special attention to encouraging collaboration between foundations and Black churches as well as other Black faith organizations. 

This digital archive seeks to make these historic documents available to scholars and practitioners today. We are deeply grateful to the Council on Foundations for granting permission to share the documents and to the outstanding staff at the Indiana University (IU) Indianapolis University Library Center for Digital Scholarship for digitizing and uploading them.