Giving Compass' Take:

• Steve Dubb at Nonprofit Quarterly discusses a survey which showed that Flint, Michigan-area nonprofits look to philanthropy, not city government, for community leadership.

• How is philanthropy adapting to take on new roles? What is there to learn about collaborative philanthropy?

• Read more about how philanthropy will continue to shift. 

It is no secret that the Rustbelt community of Flint, Michigan, has faced hard times. While Flint’s economic challenges stem from the decades-long decline of the auto industry, its most infamous problem came as a product of government decision-making—and an unelected government at that. From 2011 until 2018, Flint was run by state-appointed “emergency management.” Among the cost-cutting moves these managers made was a decision to use cheaper water in 2014, which promised to “save” $12 million a year but led to widespread lead poisoning, with over 8,500 documented cases among the city’s children, centered on its largely Black resident population.

When the crisis became apparent, philanthropy admirably stepped up. As Paul Rozycki writes in East Village Magazine, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has disbursed $93.5 million over the past four years. The Ruth Mott Foundation has paid out “between $4 million and $7 million annually in grants to Flint groups and organizations, with a particular focus on the north end of Flint.” United Way of Genesee County has allocated $3 million for local programs “and leveraged more than $15 million from other matching sources” And the Community Foundation of Greater Flint has disbursed “$130 million in grants in Flint and Genesee County and are playing a major role in the Flint water crisis.”

Read the full article about philanthropy and government by Steve Dubb at Nonprofit Quarterly.