posted on: Friday, August 10, 2007

Positive and Negative Assumptions have adverse effects, nonprofit directors say

Traditional families. Family farms. Safe communities. These are just a few of the nostalgic perceptions of rural life perpetuated by American culture and society. But they have adverse effects on foundation giving to rural areas, nonprofit directors say. According to one rural nonprofit director interviewed in Rural Philanthropy, “There’s a Normal Rockwell picture of rural America … . A great deal of that is true, but poverty is not seen in rural areas. Behind all those things, there is a great deal of poverty … and a lack of opportunity.”

NCRP’s latest report concludes that these “overwhelmingly positive notions of rural life” have “actually deter[ed] foundations from considering rural groups … as potential candidates for funding.” And if positive perceptions of rural America were not enough, negative images of rural life also have taken their toll.

Associating rural landscapes with the “sticks” or the “boonies” also may cause foundations to treat rural America with almost fatalist-like attitude. For example, as one rural Mississippi contributor said in Rural Philanthropy, “I think there’s this historic perception of Mississippi as backwater… . There’s this ‘giving up’ attitude when it comes to this state.”

How do you think perceptions of rural America impact grantmaking behavior? How do you keep those historical perceptions from undermining giving levels?

Download the report for free.