[Photo Credit: Alabama Power Foundation]

Tequila Smith, Former President, Alabama Power Foundation

Alabama is a place I am proud to call home. As a native Alabamian, I have seen firsthand how the state continues to evolve for the better. Perhaps most inspiring is the philanthropic spirit of the people who live here. From the Tennessee River Valley communities in the north, to the Black Belt counties and growing Gulf Coast region to the south, and everywhere in between, Alabama thrives when businesses, nonprofits, and communities work together to identify innovative and bold solutions to solve the most pressing needs of our state.

Examples of this collaborative work can be found in every corner of the state including rural Hale County, where Rural Studio is transforming west Alabama by blending citizen architecture and community engagement to create sustainable change. This nonprofit, supported in part through grants from the Alabama Power Foundation, is just one successful example of our focus on “place-based philanthropy.”

Place-based philanthropy is much more than a financial transaction. Its goal: Generate greater collaboration among community members who – together – invest in the creation, restoration, or improvement of shared assets. Over time, the impact extends beyond the original project and becomes a platform for connecting and enhancing education, health, wellness, and more.

Alabama Power, the company, has been investing in our state since its founding in 1906. Its creation led to the electrification of the state, helping transform Alabama's agrarian economy and vastly improving the quality of life for its citizens. Today, Alabama Power provides reliable, affordable service to 1.5 million homes, businesses and industries.

The Alabama Power Foundation, created in 1989, reinforces and broadens the company’s mission to improve quality of life for all Alabamians. We actively identify innovative ways to use our assets to generate sustainable social and economic change in the communities we serve – including making our first impact investments.

Our Rural Landscape

More than two-thirds of our counties are considered rural, and nearly 20% of the state’s population lives in rural counties, according to data from labor research firm JobsEQ. Like other rural places across the country, Alabama is experiencing a decline in the number of people living in rural communities as people leave small towns to seek opportunity. Lack of income is also a significant issue; nearly 20% of rural residents in Alabama live at or below the poverty line, compared to 13% nationwide.

Complicating Alabama’s rural economy are characteristics shared by many rural communities: A lack of reliable, affordable transportation; lack of quality childcare; and fewer quality healthcare facilities following the closure of rural hospitals. A lack of broadband further aggravates the situation, limiting both educational and economic opportunities.

What We’ve Learned

With a century’s work under our belt, we’ve learned a few things about these challenges and identified some ways to meet them and achieve positive, sustainable results. Here are some suggestions to help other rural funders who want to invest successfully:

1. Build strong, collaborative partnerships

Bringing together a tapestry of different skill sets, capital, and talents to aggressively address an issue can make all the difference. For instance:

  • We partnered with the Alabama Workforce Council to launch the Alabama Workforce Council Public Private Partnership Committee, which innovates programs to address barriers to workforce access and success. The cohort focuses on wrap-around support programming to remove barriers to employment such as childcare, transportation, disability, and recidivism.
  • During the pandemic, we joined with a half dozen other foundations in a loan guaranty pool coordinated by the Black Belt Community Foundation and Hope Federal Credit Union. The initiative helped 23 local governments across the Black Belt obtain protective equipment and other vital assistance.
  • We used a Program-Related Investment (PRI), structured as a low-interest loan, for Opportunity Alabama to launch a fund to help attract development capital to underserved communities.

2. Be thoughtful and stay flexible

The big, systemic issues can be daunting. It’s important to remember that incremental change can lead to something much greater. The folks in the communities we serve know the issues better than anyone. Our Elevate program gives local nonprofits access to free training and capacity-building grants to help them fulfill their missions. We listen to them and stay nimble to accommodate their real-time needs.

We also found impact investing provides more flexibility for our community support. This approach helps us achieve dynamic charitable goals, recycle assets, and incent additional partner planning and accountability for project success.

Impact investing can fill financing gaps for nonprofit partners to pursue transformational projects. Because these projects are structured as investments instead of traditional grants, we can recycle the capital we extend into future projects – further amplifying our impact.

3. Philanthropy is more than financial capital

We know we cannot operate independently of the communities we serve. Rather, we must work in tandem to help them grow and thrive. Together, our company and retiree volunteers invest more than 80,000 hours of service each year. By providing them with hands-on opportunities to serve and support causes they are passionate about, they are directly creating positive change where they live and work. 

4. Be positive

Despite the challenges rural Alabama faces, we never lose sight of all the good things happening in every corner of the state. We are capitalizing on the passion and compassion of Alabamians to support innovative ideas, invest in entrepreneurs of color, support social justice enterprises, and expand educational opportunities for our youth.

We invite others to join us and learn how we are collaborating to power the good in Alabama, helping our communities grow stronger and better. Visit us at powerofgood.com.