Nonprofit leaders in Greenville County have for several years been grappling with the notion that philanthropic giving has changed, perhaps significantly, in the past decade.
Seeking to understand what that looks like, Greater Good Greenville commissioned a comprehensive philanthropic landscape survey to provide the first detailed look at the area’s nonprofits, their work and supporters.
Having a good understanding of the region’s philanthropic environment is the first step in improving effectiveness and broadening engagement, according to Katy Smith, Greater Good Greenville’s executive director.
She said the Philanthropic Landscape study, which was released Sept. 18, offers key insights into the work of the nearly 3,000 nonprofits operating in Greenville County and points to some ways that work can be improved.
Philanthropy survey findings
Among the findings are:
- Charitable giving in recent years has not kept up with inflation.
- Local foundations and funding organizations provide only a fraction of nonprofit budgets.
- Individual giving has changed significantly in the last five years and represents the greatest opportunity to expand philanthropic giving.
- Greenville County and South Carolina more generally capture only a tiny fraction of available national grants.
Particularly in the area of obtaining more national grant funding, Smith said there is opportunity for local nonprofits to collaborate to tackle more ambitious initiatives that could have a more wide-reaching impact both within Greenville County and statewide.
Another area of opportunity stems from a recognition that individual giving still represents the greatest funding source for local nonprofits while at the same time the county is benefiting from a tremendous influx of new residents.
Expanding the engagement of existing residents and helping new residents plug in to the work of local nonprofits is one of the report’s takeaways, Smith said.
“I think it also opened our eyes to recognize that while we have many challenges in Greenville County…there are people here who have the capacity to really make a meaningful difference with philanthropic giving but who might not have been invited to the table,” Smith said.
Quote:
“We really need to rally with our nonprofit and philanthropic partners across the state to attract those (national grant) investments because those are dollars that can be really catalytic and transformational.” – Katy Smith, executive director for Greater Good Greenville
Greater Good Greenville Fast facts:
- Created from the merger of the Nonprofit Alliance and Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy.
- Seeks to foster collaboration between nonprofit organizations, philanthropic funders and individuals to address community challenges.
- Offers education, training and advocacy to improve philanthropic impact.
The post Greenville County philanthropy survey shows changes in giving, lag in grants appeared first on GREENVILLE JOURNAL.