Funding Justice: A Comparative Study of Student Versus Foundation Grantmaking

Student-led philanthropy has emerged as a promising yet understudied model for redistributing philanthropic decision-making authority. While foundations often claim to advance social change, their grantmaking continues to favor large, professionalized nonprofits over grassroots organizations that directly confront structural injustice. This study asks: Can shifting decision-making power in philanthropy result in more justice-oriented funding? Using automated text analysis and a custom-built justice dictionary, we analyze the missions of over 2,200 nonprofits funded between 2011 and 2019 by two groups that draw from the same philanthropic entity: college and university students through The Philanthropy Lab and professional staff at The Once Upon a Time Foundation. Guided by Young’s (2011, Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton University Press) theory of structural injustice, we assess grantees on four dimensions of justice: equity focus, systemic framing, rights-based language, and participatory ethos. Our findings reveal that student-led grantmakers are significantly more likely to support nonprofits with explicit commitments to justice. These results suggest that student-led philanthropy, while often framed as merely an educational tool, can also serve as a practical model for foundations seeking to reimagine grantmaking in more equitable, justice-oriented ways.