RURAL PHILANTHROPY: Building Dialogue from Within
Revised Edition

by Rachael Swierzewski

Current grantmaking behavior and trends are skewed heavily toward support for urban-based or urban-focused programs. In Rural Philanthropy: Building Dialogue from Within, NCRP explores both real and perceived barriers between rural nonprofits and foundations in urban areas, as well as strategies for overcoming those obstacles.

Grantmakers’ perceptions of rural life, geographical isolation and capacity-building needs greatly reduce rural nonprofits’ ability to secure funding. They also measure impact in ways that favor high-density urban areas while rural nonprofits operate without the benefit of a strong local nonprofit infrastrucutre.

NCRP identified flexible, multi-year general operating support as one of the primary strategies to build the capacity and resilience of rural nonprofits. It also examined the role of intermediaries, collaboratives, local endowment-building, and other strategies in strengthening rural philanthropy.

The W. K. Kellogg Foundation funded Rural Philanthropy: Building Dialogue from Within.

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The Power of Persuasion: Getting More Foundations to Fund Rural
In Philanthropy and Rural America, Council on Foundations, 2008.
- Read this document for free / Council on Foundations

NCRP talks about the rural philanthropy summit held in Montana in August 2007. It identifies several obstacles to rural grantmaking and strategies to overcome these challenges based on the report Rural Philanthropy: Building Dialogue from Within.