Acceptance Speech Thank you. At the Agape Foundation we are in the business of giving awards. Awards in the form of grants and loans. We are not in the business of receiving them. So thank you Northern California Grantmakers and the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Golden Gate Chapter. We are honored to be chosen by you, our peers, to receive this award today. I’m not going to stand here and run through a long list of people to thank for their hard work and generosity on behalf of the Foundation. Not that they don’t deserve it – they do. But I’d rather take my few moments to tell you why it’s so important to give to, and support social justice organizations. As you know, the Agape Foundation has been funding nonviolent social change for 37 years. We believe that by funding organizations that directly oppose the institutions that cause violence, discrimination and environmental destruction, we won’t need to fund the social services that deal with the effects. Our goal is system change. Rather than clean up a mess after it’s happened, we try to prevent it beforehand. Social justice grantmaking targets society’s problems at their source, helping to prevent disasters from happening. Social justice grantmaking funds plans to oppose clear-cutting in our forests, before de-forestation contributes to more flooding and erosion. Social justice grantmaking funds efforts to raise the minimum wage so that lower income working families don’t have to rely on your donations to food pantries. Social justice grantmaking funds counter military recruitment efforts before another high school student becomes another casualty of war. As funders, we are in a unique position to make a difference by directing our resources to long-term approaches, collaborations and solutions. We can solve society’s problems at their source. Collectively, we are in control of billions of dollars, dollars that can confront the root causes of violence and inequity. But sadly only about 11 percent of all grantmaking goes to social change work. But foundations have the power to change that. But this isn’t only the job of foundations. You as donors all play a major role in creating positive structural change. Since I know that everyone in this room is, in her or his own way, a philanthropist, I'd like you to think about giving at least as much to the organizations that are working for social change as you do to those that provide direct services. Charity is not a bad thing, but social change can ultimately eradicate the need for charity. This is our mandate, to fund peace and social justice. And your recognition of our work today tells me that you believe in these values too. Thank you. Please contact Karen Topakian for more information, and to arrange interviews with Agape Board Members and Agape grantees ( karen@agapefdn.org, 415-701-8707).
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