Mark Fulop’s Post

On our recent visit to New York’s North Country, we heard that delivering essential social services can be a major challenge due to the area’s vast geography and low population density, and that the nonprofit sector plays a critical role in addressing this issue. In today's article, the authors detail how nonprofits support low- and moderate-income communities in both small towns and larger municipalities across the North Country. https://nyfed.org/4fgkz5Y

The total economic impact is up significantly from the $40 billion detailed in the last report on Colorado nonprofits, released in 2019. Jobs directly and indirectly tied to nonprofit organizations employ more people than the agriculture, mining, and information industries combined, according to the analysis released Thursday by the Colorado Nonprofit Association, Philanthropy Colorado, the Community Resource Center and the Denver Office of Nonprofit Engagement.

In case you missed it: Colorado nonprofits are good for the economy! The Denver Post underscored the long-standing truth that nonprofits fortify communities in unexpected ways, a fact our recently released Economic Impact Report illustrates. Not only are our members changing lives, they're also boosting the state's economy by $62 billion. Read the story below and the full report, here: https://lnkd.in/g276VRuk #CNAInTheNews #EconomicImpact

In our team meeting today, we were lamenting the common practice of foundations asking nonprofits to measure the impact of their work. As strategic planning consultants, we constantly confront this need to measure and yet have seen few nonprofits that can produce compelling data. Meanwhile, because foundations keep asking for it, nonprofits are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on new staff, new software systems and new practices to chase this ellusive goal. Then, our friend John B. posted this amazing blog post interviewing Aaron Horvath who has done some amazing thinking on this very topic. He puts it better than we ever could: "At the simplest level, demands for reporting and measurement take up time and resources for organizations that are often understaffed, overworked, and don't have the time and resources to be doing these things. To put it very reductively, but probably crisply, the decline of civil society fed this more technocratic approach to trying to grasp civil society. We started trusting each other less and trusting the numbers more. I often think of the phrase, 'if a tree falls in the forest, and there's no one there to hear it, did it make a sound?' I think in a similar way it’s like, 'if a nonprofit had an impact, and there was no one there to measure it, did it make a sound?' You ask the nonprofit director, they'll probably say, 'well, hell yes we did.' But if you ask the people funding them and demanding the evaluations, they'd be like, 'nobody measured it.'" 

Community Development Financial Institutions led by people of color and exhibiting long track records of success in serving people and communities of color represent one of the most proven approaches to closing the racial wealth gap. Props to the Asset Funders Network for nailing this premise in the release of the organization's most recent policy brief "Leveraging CDFIs to Increase Wealth Generation and Equity." The paper's authors, Gina & Kyle Nisbeth with 9th & Clinton and Joseph A. Antolín & Amanda Arizola with the Asset Funders Network also hit a homerun on the recommendations for the philanthropic community. Among the recommendations that stood out based on HOPE's experience: 1) Providing general operating grants; 2) Making low-cost deposits; 3) Directly providing CDFIs with flexible capital, for use at their discretion to advance their mission related investments, removing the burden of having to spend according to a funder’s predetermined manner. Thanks to the Asset Funders Network for inviting me to speak during the webinar to share reflections based on our experience at Hope Credit Union. Also, shout out Storm Taliaferrow with the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, Amanda Arizola with Asset Funders Network and Gina Nisbeth with 9th & Clinton for their thoughtful and engaging commentary during the webinar. A link to the paper can be found in the comment section below.

How and who you work with matters! Please check out this new report from the Asset Funders Network, a great partner to Hope Enterprise Corporation and all CDFIs!

"We should be regulating corporate capture; instead, our government has enabled it. Tenants are confronting this capture by organizing toward a world in which housing is guaranteed as a public good." - MCF #PublicDollarsForPublicGood advisor Tara Raghuveer in Nonprofit Quarterly "It is in exposing the corporate capture of higher education that we find… the staging ground for ... creating new pathways for social transformation." - Dr. Davarian Baldwin, director of MCF #PublicDollarsForPublicGood grant recipient organization Smart Cities Research Lab Discover insights and lessons about how organizers are fighting #CorporateCapture by directing #PublicDollarsForPublicGood in this three-part article in Nonprofit Quarterly.

We’re thrilled to see the William Penn Foundation taking bold steps to shift solution-making to the community. With their new strategic plan, they are prioritizing transparency, accessibility, and elevating community voices, especially in areas that have faced significant racial and social injustices. As Shawn McCaney, Executive Director of the William Penn Foundation, emphasized, this approach moves away from being highly directional and instead invites community input to determine the best approaches for issues like illegal dumping and expanding cultural opportunities. This inclusive strategy not only reduces the administrative burden on nonprofits but also ensures that the solutions are driven by those most affected. At NCRP, we wholeheartedly support this move towards trust based grantmaking. It aligns perfectly with our Power Moves toolkit, which helps foundations leverage their power for equity and justice by building, sharing, and wielding power effectively. By fostering community partnerships and prioritizing long-term, equitable solutions, foundations can truly make a transformative impact. 📣 Shoutout to the William Penn Foundation for leading by example and showing us the power of sharing decision-making with the community. Let’s continue to support and amplify these efforts to aid in creating a more just and equitable world. Read more about their inspiring strategy here: https://bit.ly/4c66o0w and more about our Power Moves here: https://lnkd.in/g-saee6D #Philanthropy #CommunityEngagement #PowerMoves #Grantmaking #Nonprofits #SocialJustice

Attention all community-engaged 501(c)(3) nonprofits: Are you interested in doing (more) economic justice policy work? Today, we’ve released a playbook to support you in overcoming structural barriers and developing strengths-based strategies. Nonprofits have the distinct opportunity to leverage their expertise, relationships with community members, and communications platforms to bridge the gap between communities and decision-makers, influencing policies that shape banking systems, social benefits like the child tax credit, and economic livelihoods through worker power and reparations. Importantly, this work needs to be funded. That’s why we've also created a short guide for funders outlining meaningful areas for impact in supporting nonprofit-led economic policy change. Learn more about this opportunity in NPQ: https://lnkd.in/e2KKg5ht

I've been introduced to a lot of great research from my LinkedIn connections, so I am especially excited to contribute to CNC's survey report on the financial stability and staff capacity of Cambridge nonprofits, which align closely with findings from recent studies by Center for Effective Philanthropy and The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Among other things we learned (and in some cases affirmed): 🔸 Cambridge nonprofits provide a diverse array of critical programs and services. Demand is increasing and difficult to meet fully. 🔸 While staffing challenges have marginally improved over last year, they remain significant. Leadership, which continues to be disproportionately white and female, is experiencing significant turnover. 🔸 Financial vulnerability, made worse by the pandemic, persists in the nonprofit sector in Cambridge, with only marginal improvement from the start of 2023 to the start of 2024. Read the full report here: