Philanthropy Now: How to Support Nonprofits Navigating Change
Local nonprofits across Central Florida are navigating a moment of intense pressure. Federal support is tightening, SNAP benefits have seen interruptions, and community safety nets that once felt steady are becoming harder to rely on. During the Central Florida Foundation’s recent Listening Tour in neighborhoods including Azalea Park, Holden Heights, West Orange, and Parramore, residents shared concerns about rising housing costs, limited youth development opportunities, transportation hurdles, digital access gaps, and complex pathways to essential services. These stories reveal a community working hard to stay stable while the systems around them shift.
You can read the full Listening Tour summary here.
Many organizations are experiencing record demand, while also experiencing uncertainty about their own operational capacity. As our Vice President of Community Strategies and Initiatives says, “We as a society outsource our biggest and most complex social issues to nonprofits and then under-resource them to solve them.”
Nonprofits are having to look at long-term resilience and sustainability while balancing their day-to-day programs, while oftentimes already stretched thin.
For philanthropic partners and Fundholders, this moment presents an important question. How can charitable giving strengthen the long-term stability of the organizations that hold our communities together? Importantly, we know that philanthropy cannot fill the gap that many organizations are experiencing; however, there are philanthropic strategies and nonprofit approaches that can offer support and increased resiliency when systems shift and change.
Charitable support for nonprofit resilience can look different depending on a donor’s values and interests, but there are several ways that philanthropy can serve as a critical catalyst to ensuring our nonprofit community is stronger for the long haul. From exploring ways to ensure financial sustainability for organizations to design thinking techniques and more, there are several strategies philanthropists can use to meet this moment.
As Central Florida continues to evolve, the need for a strategic, thoughtful philanthropic community will only grow. Strengthening nonprofit resilience is one of the most meaningful steps donors can take to ensure that the community has the stability it needs to thrive.
Ready to go deeper?
If you want to understand these issues more fully and participate in a collective giving experience, we invite you to join the next Thrive Venture Philanthropy Cohort. Beginning in January, this guided, collaborative experience offers a chance to learn alongside fellow fundholders, explore community challenges, and invest in long-term solutions that help organizations thrive.
Learn more and express your interest in the upcoming cohort:
https://cffound.org/thrive/thrive-venture-philanthropy-cohort/
