Giving Compass' Take:

• Matthew Elhman, the founder of the Rural Philanthropy Institute, explains how using a personalized approach to connect donors to rural philanthropy can lead to strong engagement in social programs. 

• What are ways that you engage in rural philanthropy? 

• Read about what successful rural philanthropy looks like in practice. 

Scarcity of funding from the government, as well as private foundations and corporate giving, shows that nonprofit organizations in these communities must work harder to obtain the money they need to serve rural communities, and are less able to help the disadvantaged in their communities.

Matthew Ehlman, Ph.D.’18, recognizes these issues, and is determined to promote rural philanthropy through his work as a founder and consultant at The Numad Group, and through the creation of the Rural Philanthropy Institute.

His focus of study and dissertation concentrated on his work at Red Cloud Indian School, and why giving increased by new and returning donors to the school during the Great Recession, the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

To increase giving, Ehlman and his team took several steps to connect donors to Red Cloud Indian School.

“We identified people who had an interest in a program or activity happening at Red Cloud at the time,” he said. “We then connected with them, listened to where their donor interests were, helped to educate them about how their interests aligned with a program or initiative of the school, and made the case why it was important for them to support Red Cloud at that time.

It was a highly relational and personal approach in conducting our outreach with individuals, foundations, and corporations. It was all based on the belief that people are extraordinarily generous when you educate them with intentional communication and solicit them to support areas of the organization that they were most interested in impacting.”

This highly successful approach led to Ehlman, and his colleague, Ted Stephens III, imagining the creation of the Rural Philanthropy Institute.

Read the full article about empowering rural philanthropy by Abby Rolland at Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.