Black-led nonprofits in Philadelphia are still struggling to connect with the region’s philanthropic community, despite the heightened awareness of need and concerns in Black communities that was amplified during the pandemic, a report compiled by the Urban Affairs Coalition and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey finds. 

The report, Reflecting Forward: Philadelphia-based Black Leaders’ Recommendations for Regional Funders (31 pages, PDF), is based on interviews with a diverse group of 16 Black nonprofit leaders with the goal of better understanding their perspective on the effect on fundraising of the COVID-19 pandemic and the murders of George Floyd and other Black Americans by police in 2020. Three overarching recommendations arose from the nonprofit leaders: get to know Black-led nonprofits, embrace “trust-based philanthropy,” and trust Black leaders. 

“The research design for this project intentionally centers the views, expertise, and lived experience of Black nonprofit leaders,” said Kelly Sloane, the primary researcher of the report. “The knowledge and perspective of Black leaders and other leaders of color deserve to be privileged—particularly when commitments to institutional, structural, and social change have reached a fever pitch. How can allies know what action to take without recommendations from Black nonprofit leaders?”

“Unfortunately, Black nonprofit leaders continue to experience inequitable dynamics and conditions, which stymies our best efforts to reach those with the least and truly realize our nation’s egalitarian ideals,” said Urban Affairs Coalition president and CEO Sharmain Matlock-Turner. “We hope this research will enable Black nonprofit leaders to leverage the findings to work with Philadelphia-region philanthropy to make sustainable change.” 

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Eva Katalin)