This campaign aims to boost Black nonprofit fundraising by convincing everyday donors of their power

NEW YORK (AP) — Black nonprofit fundraisers are turning to their own communities for support this month, stressing everyday donors' power at a time when philanthropy is growing more concentrated among the affluent and some major funders have de-prioritized diversity in their grantmaking.

The BackBlack initiative has directed more than $12 million toward Black-led nonprofits over the past three years, according to founder Floyd Jones. A GivingTuesday -style campaign that runs in August, the appeal invites online donation platforms to center typically underfunded, Black-led nonprofits. Last year's efforts drew more than 130,000 unique donors, according to Jones, with the majority of their gifts falling under $100.

This year, for the first time, organizers are also leveraging content creators to reach a new audience: Black Gen Zers. The goal is to show that philanthropy belongs to them, too — not just the historically wealthier and predominantly white charitable institutions that tend to dominate narratives about philanthropy.

“Our people have always taken care of our people," Jones said. “I want people to feel empowered.”

The campaign could bring a boost for smaller, Black-led organizations that, according to research released earlier this year, saw no significant changes to their funding after the racial reckoning of 2020. Only a subset of larger nonprofits got temporary increases in the years that followed, according to an analysis by Candid and ABFE.

BackBlack aims to flip that narrative from one of “deficit” to one of abundance. Jones is heartened by the example of Madam C.J. Walker, a Black beauty entrepreneur widely considered America's first female self-made millionaire. She supported Black educational efforts such as Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute and African American branches of the YMCA. She also contributed to the NAACP 's anti-lynching fund shortly before her death in 1919.

Jones doesn't care if today's donors have millions in their bank accounts, though. “It's about doing your best,” he said.

One of BackBlack's partnering creators pointed to the Free African Society. The nondenominational Philadelphia group, founded in 1787 by Black leaders Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, was one of the country's first mutual aid organizations.

“We've always had to pool our money and resources to help each other," said Ernest Crim III, a former schoolteacher who posts Black history videos for his 118,000 Instagram followers.

But, he added, allies must also pitch in — especially in communities that “might not have the sustainable market or income to consistently give.”

Crim is asking followers to support Black nonprofits that work on issues of youth employment. Other participating pages are focused on nonprofits providing sports access, improving health outcomes and ensuring civil rights.

Matching up to $6,000 in donations is For Good, a charitable giving platform that helps move money from more than 20,000 donor-advised funds to over a million nonprofits filtered by ZIP code. GivingTuesday manages BackBlack's data, Jones said. Other partners include online fundraising platforms GiveButter, Every.org, Bonterra and Fundraise Up.

For Good provides back end infrastructure for consumer-based campaigns including YouTube's fundraising pages and Patagonia's point-of-sale donations. The creator-driven donation strategy stemmed from the platform’s success with YouTubers who launch fundraisers for the issues they discuss in their videos.

Grassroots fundraisers face competing headwinds, according to For Good interim president Tamara Mahal. The concentration of wealth has increased the share of high net worth individuals in the donor pool. But, she said, there are more ways than ever to give locally from the bottom up.

She welcomes the BackBlack campaign's efforts to include more small-dollar givers so that nonprofits aren't overly beholden to any one individual benefactor.

“The cause is important in and of itself. Find a nonprofit that’s doing work in your community," she said. “And that will actually help us to diversify.”

Kaci Patterson is the founder of Social Good Solutions, a social impact consulting firm that works with funders to build support for Black-led organizations outside of “trend funding.” She finds that Black Philanthropy Month, celebrated in August, is a reminder that philanthropy is more than just “institutional” giving “held within the walls of wealth and power.”

It was fish fries and chicken dinners, she noted, that funded alternative transportation systems during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Growing up, her own family received groceries from their community during times of hardship.

“That was philanthropy. That was someone else looking at us and investing in us and wanting us to be whole and wanting us to be well," she said. “We've always had this kind of ‘we got us’ philanthropy. Let’s step into that role more confidently."

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Floyd Jones, the founder of BackBlack, an initiative that supports underfunded Black-led nonprofits, poses for a portrait in Washington Heights, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Floyd Jones, the founder of BackBlack, an initiative that supports underfunded Black-led nonprofits, poses for a portrait in Washington Heights, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Floyd Jones, the founder of BackBlack, an initiative that supports underfunded Black-led nonprofits, poses for a portrait in Washington Heights, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Floyd Jones, the founder of BackBlack, an initiative that supports underfunded Black-led nonprofits, poses for a portrait in Washington Heights, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Floyd Jones, the founder of BackBlack, an initiative that supports underfunded Black-led nonprofits, poses for a portrait in Washington Heights, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

HONG KONG (AP) — U.S. markets pointed higher early Friday but for the first time in a month, major indexes are all at risk of closing the week in negative territory.

The futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4% and Nasdaq futures climbed 0.6%.

For the week, the Dow and the S&P are down 1.81% and 1.85% respectively before the opening bell, and the Nasdaq is down 2.48%. It would be the second consecutive week of losses for the Dow.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week attempted to put a lid on longer-term borrowing costs which have weighed on markets, but the results have been muted.

The Treasury announced Wednesday that it will at least double the size of its planned purchases of longer-term government debt, and Bessent signaled Thursday that the repurchase program could be larger.

The announcement temporarily brought down government bond yields, which have been elevated by concerns about high inflation partly caused by the war in Iran and rising U.S. government debt.

But economists believe the effect on bond yields is temporary. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury was around 4.70%, up from nearly 4.64% on Thursday and back near its level before the Treasury Department’s announcement.

The 30-year Treasury yield was about 5.25%, up from 5.18% on Thursday.

In early trading, SpaceX shares are up less than 1% after nearly 319 million shares held by investors and employees became eligible to trade Thursday.

Bitcoin is on a tear this week and was up more than 5% early. Bitcoin has gained 22% for the week and was trading for $76,935 each on Friday.

In Asia, bond yields also rose. Japan’s 10-year government bond yield, which had been trading near 30-year highs, rose to about 2.88% from around 2.83% on Thursday.

In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.1% to 10,752.29. France’s CAC 40 was nearly unchanged at 8,454.20. Germany’s DAX rose 0.1% to 26,015.14.

Oil prices are essentially flat as the U.S. stepped up its economic threats toward Iran due to limited progress in talks between Washington and Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.1% to $93.67 a barrel. It was trading at roughly $72 per barrel before the start of the war. Benchmark U.S. crude was down 0.1% to $86.77 a barrel.

The U.S. dollar declined to 158.70 Japanese yen from 159.05 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1702, up from $1.1678.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.3% to 66,016.36. Japan on Friday reported that headline inflation rose to 1.9% in July, in part due to higher oil prices resulting from the war with Iran.

South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.9% to 6,912.95. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.2% to 26,009.46, while the Shanghai Composite index added less than 0.1% to 3,905.20.

Options traders Chris Dattolo, Scott Frinzi, Justin Kanda, and Ravi Bhandari, left to right, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Options trader Anthony Spina works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)