The global reach of Covid and its staying power both as a killer disease and an economic menace attracted a philanthropic response of $20.2 billion last year, more than double the amount given to the previous top 10 disasters combined, according to preliminary estimates released Wednesday. For many nonprofit leaders, however, the true measure of philanthropy’s response to both the pandemic and the racial-justice uprisings that followed the killing of George Floyd in May will be in whether foundations and other donors continue the less restrictive approaches to grant making they adopted during the pandemic’s early weeks.

Donors are joining hands at a pace we have never seen before — a trend that seems poised to continue to unlock billions more dollars in the coming years. Prompted in large part by the desire by many donors and grant makers to find more effective ways to advance equity in the United States and around the world, these collaboratives could show the way to unlocking greater giving to support social justice. And they could lead to a shift in how philanthropic dollars are distributed — most of these collaboratives are led by people of color and others who have direct experience navigating an unequal world.