Tag: Charlotte philanthropy

Philanthropy runs through Charlotte’s veins. For decades, the city’s culture of giving has left its fingerprints on some of the most robust and meaningful institutions in the Queen City.

Billions of philanthropic dollars are pumped through the greater Charlotte region each year from households wanting to curb food insecurity, invest in their churches, address homelessness, support afterschool education, fund the arts and much more.

Hundreds of private and family foundations call the city home and focus on uplifting the community in a variety of ways. The namesake of one such foundation, Leon Levine, is etched on buildings all across Charlotte — a testament to the impact of the philanthropic powerhouse.

But over the years, and increasingly in recent months, the playing field has shifted. The nonprofit industry, which some consider to be the lifeblood of Charlotte, has become inundated with increased competition and shifting donor priorities.

This shift has crept up on the industry for at least the past decade, one state expert said. But recent cuts to nonprofits’ government funding have complicated an already precarious situation.

Since January, Charlotte has seen long-standing nonprofits like MeckEd, Council for Children’s Rights, Community Link and others cease operations after suddenly losing state and federal dollars.

It’s a hard moment for nonprofits, says Ivan Canada, the CEO of the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits.

“One of the things I’ve been trying to get funders to get in this moment is people are scrambling to try to find dollars,” he said.

While state and federal cuts have resulted in the shuttering of decades-old nonprofit organizations, experts say these closures are part of a larger evolution of philanthropy in Charlotte and beyond. Donors have become more intentional and selective in their giving. And in a city where the number of nonprofits grows as the population swells, competition for dollars intensifies.

Experts agree that philanthropy alone can’t fill the funding gaps nonprofits are experiencing. Community needs are greatly outpacing the funds available. This calls for collaboration and innovation from funders and nonprofits alike.

How has Charlotte’s giving landscape changed?

Carol Hardison remembers the ‘70s and ‘80s — a time when only a handful of nonprofits had name recognition to the average Charlottean. But in her 25 years as the CEO of Crisis Assistance Ministry, she’s watched the city grow. And with its growth came more nonprofits hoping to address the increasing needs in the community.

As of 2020, the Charlotte area was home to more than 2,500 nonprofits, according to the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits. These organizations are fundraising amid a shift in giving trends across the country.

According to the 2025 Bank of America Study of Philanthropy, affluent households who’ve given to charity have decreased 10% since 2015. Affluent donors give more than the general population, said Dianne Chipps Bailey, Managing Director and National Philanthropic Strategy Executive for Philanthropic Solutions at Bank of America.

Those who chose not to donate to charity cited financial family responsibilities or a lack of connection to an organization. Households that did decide to donate are giving more, Chipps Bailey said.

This shift isn’t seen only among affluent households.

Family foundations aren’t being created at the same pace as seen in past generations and people have been more selective on what they donate to — likely because paychecks haven’t kept up with inflation, Sarah Mann Willcox, executive director of N.C. Network of Grantmakers, said.

And amid these shifts, nonprofits face additional hurdles once they begin to fundraise. Many nonprofits overlap in mission and priorities. When it comes to securing money from funders, the challenge is finding a way to distinguish themselves, Hardison said.

“You need more people. You gotta have more on socials. You (have to) be more places,” she said.

And funders are asking nonprofits to show more outcomes, transparency and engagement.

“Donors want to know their gifts matter,” Beth Crigler, Vice Chancellor of Advancement for UNC Charlotte said in a statement to the Charlotte Observer.

When they’re not working to set themselves apart, nonprofits are also contemplating or overcoming the temptation of “mission creep.” Every few years, a new trend emerges in the nonprofit sector as a way to fill needs, Hardison said.

A few years after Charlotte ranked dead last for economic mobility in a Harvard study, Hardison saw new nonprofits emerge committed to improving outcomes. The same happened after the pandemic when some organizations promoted being navigators — a service or person who helps an individual get access to wraparound services.

Addressing pressing needs is important, Hardison said, but in their field it’s important to collaborate, not duplicate efforts. But when big dollars are being funneled toward organizations following these new trends, the idea of taking on more responsibility becomes tempting.

“It gives a challenge to agencies to say, well, ‘The funding is all going that way now, so do I? What do I do to get a piece of that pie?’” Hardison said.

Federal cuts

Crisis Assistance Ministry felt it this year when a $153,000 grant from the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter program was paused. The organization had used the funds to help clients with rental assistance. But months later funding isn’t just on pause, Hardison said, it’s become a hole that prevents organizations from serving people.

“Fundraising is a hard field, but the overnight disappearance of a chunk of change… I mean, it just causes major adjustments,” she said.

In Charlotte, corporations or foundations have driven philanthropy, Chipps Bailey said. But nationally, individuals make up the majority of giving. She encourages nonprofits to check in with current donors to see if they are giving to their full capacity, inviting them to be volunteers or helping them understand the process.

“I think in Charlotte because corporate and institutional foundation giving is so visible, I wonder whether individuals feel diminished in their own giving,” Chipps Bailey said. “They feel that somehow, because their gifts aren’t as large, maybe they’re not as needed, maybe they’re not important. And nothing could be further from the truth, individual families are the engine for charitable giving in the US and in Charlotte as well.”

Ways to collaborate

To help nonprofits in this period of uncertainty, some foundations are looking for ways to meet these organizations where they are.

Among them is the Charlotte-based Foundation for the Carolinas. To help nonprofits faced with federal funding cuts and freezes, staffing challenges and more, the foundation has launched new initiatives, including workshop series and gathering resources into one place.

“What I’ve been reminded of through this is that the nonprofit model, especially the financing of it, is very fragile,” Foundation for the Carolinas President Laura Yates Clark said. “We decided that the best thing we could do is try to help them address some of those challenges and really help them develop skills that would create business agility and resilience.”

The foundation’s Agility Together Initiative focuses on three programs:

• Business Agility Series for nonprofit leaders, partnering with United Way, SHARE Charlotte and Lee Institute. The series covers topics like scenario planning, collaboration and board governance. The monthly series started in June and has seen 150 to 200 people attend each two- to three-hour session.
• Collaborating with the corporate community, including retired leaders, to match volunteers with nonprofits.
• Compiling a playbook of resources and tools for nonprofits from local, state and national organizations in one place. The information is available on the foundation’s website and is updated regularly.

Additionally, the foundation has been hosting nonprofit office hours since August, and planning quarterly events focused on different topics from workforce development to affordable housing.

The foundation also is partnering with United Way and UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute on a local nonprofit survey of funding reduction impacts. The results are expected in late fall.

“Everything we can do, whether it’s financially or being a volunteer or whatever it is, to support your favorite nonprofit today or the ones that you really care about, really matters,” Yates Clark said. “And it matters not just from the dollars or the time, but because you’re showing up and you’re standing with them.”

While foundations are finding ways to lend a helping hand, this moment is also an opportunity for nonprofits to look at how they can work together, experts say.

Hardison said her organization and Roof Above have worked together to bring coat drives to Crisis Assistance Ministry that are beneficial for both their programs.

“This has not become a more competitive environment. This has become an environment more conducive to partnerships and mergers again,” she said. “… There’s no way philanthropy can make this gap up. They didn’t wake up the next day and have hundreds of millions of new dollars. It can only be through partnerships and collaborations that you come together and say, some of my service can help you. Some of your services can help me.”