Ballmer Group, Echoing Green, and New Profit have announced $40 million in seed funding for a new initiative to help address the systemic funding gap for Black-led nonprofit organizations in the United States.

The funding will support a five-year initiative to sustain and build the leadership of Black-led organizations focused on economic mobility. To that end, the strategy will be broken into two parts: Echoing Green will utilize grants to support organizations established less than two years ago; New Profit will support proof-of-concept through early-scale nonprofits.

More than 100 Black-led organizations will receive capital and operational support to spur innovative solutions and provide Black leaders with the tools they need to scale and achieve their missions over the long term. Despite representing approximately 10 percent of nonprofit leadership in the U.S., Black and Latiné/Latinx nonprofit leaders only receive 4 percent of philanthropic funding. A recent study by Echoing Green and the Bridgespan Group found that the grants they receive are smaller and more likely to be restricted than those white-led organizations receive.

“The goal of this initiative is to address an undercapitalized market and invest in Black leadership to spur innovation and improve economic mobility,” said Ballmer Group director of community impact Eshauna Smith. “Industry leaders New Profit and Echoing Green come to the table with a combined 60 years of experience supporting nonprofit leaders and social entrepreneurs and shaping economic mobility in the U.S. This approach can serve as a lighthouse for other funders looking to spur economic mobility and invest in proximate, Black leadership.” 

(Photo credit: Getty Images/FG Trade)