Blog

A Look Back on Our Critical Role in Our Community

As our staff planned for communication on National Community Foundation Week, we could not help but think back to an editorial we shared in November of 2020.

What was true then, remains true today. Philanthropy, at its root, is critical in how we come together in support of community.

Think back to all that our community faced from March to November of 2020 and beyond. Together, we have supported each other to build stronger communities for our friends and neighbors. Let it encourage your generosity this season as you look ahead at the legacy you will leave!

Will we fail or flourish? Local philanthropy’s critical role in our community.

Sarah H. McKinney, President | CEO, November 2020

Philanthropy is defined by “a desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes.” More interestingly, philanthropy’s Greek root means “the love to mankind.”

One of the greatest sources of love to humankind is our nonprofit business community. Hundreds of nonprofits stand in the gaps of human, social, environmental, and global service and work carefully to meet societal demands many of us will never know. Those nonprofits are big and small. They are mighty and resilient. They are lean and in the trenches. They are addressing every corner of this community, uncovering challenge, mending wounds, changing minds, influencing policy, and always, always doing the hardest work.

Every single nonprofit has the same challenge: to leverage time and money to expertly deploy service.

Every giver has the same challenge: to choose where to place time, talent, and treasure in a way that makes the greatest impact.

No one has to give. No one has to donate anything. Yet, we are a country and a culture of great givers. Our desire to share resources for the common good is woven into the fabric of our nation. In an annual study of nationwide philanthropy, Giving USA reported solid growth, with 2019 performing as one of the highest years for giving on record.

Then, 2020 happened, to all of us.

As we set our tables for Thanksgiving, find the joy in the holidays, close the doors on 2020, and open the hopeful promise of a new year, will our philanthropy flourish or will it fail? A massive question mark looms over the trajectory and stamina of giving this year and beyond. Many nonprofits face extraordinary challenges in fundraising, with most in-person events at a complete halt, face to face opportunities limited, and more demand on service than ever.

Find the heroes, the nonprofits that call to your heart, show you the data, and earn your trust. There is great need and demand for service that will only widen and deepen as the pandemic continues to anchor itself in our time. No one has a benchmark for us to study or a playbook for us to follow, so let us all dig deep as philanthropists and write this page of our nation’s history together.

We can all be philanthropists. We can all love humankind. Let us do it tangibly.

There are three tangible ways you can be a great giver {philanthropist} this holiday season and beyond:

1. Volunteer – Your service can mean added expertise, cost savings, and support.
2. Advocate and Share – Your voice can amplify, ignite, and change.
3. Give – Your dollar can provide, add service, and effect change.

Our philanthropy will fail if we fall short of understanding our role in the big picture and let off the gas in giving. Our philanthropy will flourish when we needle and thread our talents, time, and resources together as a community. No gift is ever too small. Our local nonprofits are poised to stretch every dollar and every hour. Show your love to humankind this season so our community will continue to grow.