Black Philanthropy Month (BPM), observed each August, is a global celebration and concerted campaign to elevate African-descent giving. Created by Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland and the Pan-African Women's Philanthropy Network (PAWPNet), BPM launched in 2011 to commemorate the United Nations Year and Decade of People of African Descent.
In 2013, Valaida Fullwood and Tracey Webb, both chroniclers of Black philanthropy, joined Copeland as co-architects, collaborating to scale up the annual campaign and invite widespread public participation. Expanding and evolving each year, BPM is characterized by a wave of high-impact events, media stories, proclamations and service projects online and in communities throughout August, with local and global dimensions.
Since it was established, BPM has reached roughly 17 million people and become an increasingly year-round, diasporic initiative that illuminates the ingenuity and transformative impact of generosity in Black communities. Primary aims of BPM are informing, involving, inspiring and investing in Black philanthropic leadership to strengthen African-American and African-descent giving in all its forms, for the benefit of our planet, our communities, our organizations and our lives. A new organizing concept frames the BPM campaign each year. The theme for 2020 is: FORESIGHT 20/20.