Giving Compass' Take:

• Larry Jacobs shares his insight as to some major concerns he has for the future of nonprofit organizations. These include: funding equity, investment in tech, and building diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

• What other ways can nonprofits receive more funding or shift infrastructure to better support employees and build capacity? 

• Read an overview of the New Profit Gathering of Leaders conference in which many innovators discuss the future of the social sector. 

In the past few weeks, however, I attended two conferences that did start to address the issue of work in the future of the nonprofit sector – New Profit’s Gathering of Leaders and The Collaborative.

Although the backgrounds of attendees to these conferences varied wildly, people I talked to had common concerns centered in three areas: consolidation of funding, falling behind with technology, and keeping up with the changing demographics of the nation.

  • Funding Equity. As a funder, I was approached repeatedly with concerns about money flowing to larger nonprofits – those organizations with the resources, systems, and language to compete for larger dollars. These concerns of smaller nonprofit staffers mirror what we hear from non-social sector entrepreneurs about larger, more established companies getting the bulk of resources.
  • Investment in Tech and Talent. Nonprofits large and small are challenged by rapid changes in technology. Funders have been unwilling to make significant investments in helping the sector invest in new hardware, software, and tools to allow nonprofits to stay current. The inability to efficiently track the people served inhibits a nonprofits ability to report results, make improvements on programs, and tell its story.
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. As our population becomes increasingly diverse, the sector is not keeping up. As of today, 30 percent of the U.S. population is Black and/or Latino. Yet, only 10 percent of nonprofits are led by Black or Latino individuals. The funding patterns paint a worse picture.

After taking some time to listen to our community and the sector, the Foundation engaged in two initiatives under its Kansas City Civic program area to support increasing the capacity of organizations in order to meet the needs of a rapidly changing future.

Read the full article about concerns for nonprofits by Larry Jacob at Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation