In 2006, the New College Foundation (NCF) was created to “provide the ‘margin of excellence’ to enable the New College Institute to continually grow and prosper, meeting the changing needs for higher education and economic growth for Martinsville, Henry County and this region of the Commonwealth (of Virginia)”—a place that had lost 19,000 manufacturing jobs over two decades. But […]
JPMorgan Chase Expands Business Lending Program in Communities of Color
JPMorgan Chase (JPMC), the nation’s largest bank, is expanding its Entrepreneurs of Color Fund to the Washington DC region, following launches over the past two years in Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, and the South Bronx. Initially investing a total of $12.5 million in these four markets, the bank’s model is to partner with local community development financial […]
Nonprofits Seek to Bring Grocery Stores to Low-Income Neighborhoods
Grocery is a tough business, even if you’re big. Nonprofit grocery stores serving low-income neighborhoods are even tougher to sustain, but that doesn’t stop passionate people in a variety of places from trying. The latest effort, sponsored by a large Christian-anchored community development organization (City Square) and a small grassroots advocacy group (For Oak Cliff) is focused on a […]
A Bipartisan Bill in Mississippi Could Bring High-Speed Broadband to the Delta
Despite a Republican-controlled House, Senate, and governor’s office, the Mississippi legislature’s first major bill signed this year was a Democrat-led initiative. Blessed with overwhelming support, the bill makes it possible for the state’s 25 electric co-ops to now get into the business of providing broadband to their rural members. The bill passed unanimously in the state […]
Will Christian Groups Take the Path of Inclusion or Exclusion?
As one of the nation’s oldest and largest religion-related nonprofits begins construction of a $60-million Faith and Liberty Discovery Center overlooking Independence Hall in Philadelphia, which is expected to draw 250,000 visits a year, is its future brightening? Or is it dimming, as it embraces a new policy that requires all employees via a written commitment to […]
An Inflection Point Comes for Historically Black Colleges: Will Funders Step Up?
Both Spelman College and Bennett College—the nation’s sole all-female historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs)—made headlines this past week. Spelman was gifted $30 million, one of the largest donations ever made to an HBCU, from trustee Ronda Stryker and her husband William Johnston to help build a new Center for Innovation and the Arts. In […]
Mission-HCA Sale Could Be a Game-Changer…or Philanthropy as Usual
The North Carolina attorney general’s upcoming decision on whether to approve the proposed $1.5 billion sale of nonprofit Mission Health Systems to the for-profit behemoth HCA will have ramifications far beyond an 18-county, mostly rural mountainous region—certainly on the parameters of future hospital conversions, and possibly on the practice of rural philanthropy itself. As the largest per-capita infusion of philanthropic capital from a healthcare conversion in the nation, will the new Dogwood Health Trust be transformative, promoting real structural change in this piece of Appalachia, or will it perpetuate existing disparities and institutional practices?
What Does It Mean to Transition a Nonprofit to a Membership Model?
When does it make sense to convert to a membership organization? Unifi-Ed, a four-year-old nonprofit focused on making Chattanooga/Hamilton County’s public schools more equitable and excellent, recently took that step. Unifi-Ed was formed in 2014 to get parents and community members actively engaged in fixing Chattanooga’s county-wide school system, which is “plagued by the same funding, […]
Rent Control Proposition Voted Down at California Ballot Box
Rent control in California was dealt a major blow in the November 6th midterm election when two-thirds of voters defeated Proposition 10, a ballot referendum that would have repealed the state’s 23-year-old law that severely curtails the ability of municipalities to regulate residential rents. This 30-point defeat came in a state where two out of three […]
Charter Schools Raise Core Questions Regarding How We Educate Our Children
This month, the US Department of Education awarded eight states a total of $313.4 million over five years to grow the number and size of “high quality” public charter schools to serve “traditionally underserved students;” the money is estimated to benefit about 300 schools and is part of a larger five-year, $399-million initiative. Arkansas, one of the eight states […]