Central Carolina Community Foundation awards $90,000 to nine local Black-led and Black-benefiting nonprofit organizations
March 17, 2022
Central Carolina Community Foundation, the Midlands’ leader in collaborative philanthropy, has awarded $90,000 in unrestricted General Operating Support grants to nine Black-led and Black-benefiting nonprofits in the Midlands.
The Community Foundation’s General Operating Support grant initiative, started in June 2021, is a multiyear program aimed at removing some of the financial barriers nonprofits face as they work to fulfill their missions. Each nonprofit can receive $10,000 for up to three years. Between the 2021 and 2022 General Operating Support grantees, the initiative represents a $280,000 investment in Black-led and Black-benefiting nonprofits.
“One of our values at the Community Foundation is to ‘see what’s possible,’” says JoAnn Turnquist, president and CEO of the Community Foundation. “These grants allow our grantees to ‘see what’s possible’ when some of the financial barriers they have are removed and they are allowed to focus on their mission.”
In addition to the grants, the program also includes organizational capacity building training for recipients. In 2021, Central Carolina Community Foundation became one of the first and only community foundations in the country to explore unrestricted general operating support grants specifically for Black-led-and-benefiting nonprofit organizations. This initiative demonstrates the Community Foundation’s commitment to create a more livable, equitable and just community.
Following an application and interview process conducted by the Community Foundation’s African American Philanthropy Committee (AAPC) and Foundation staff, three new organizations were added to its cohort of General Operating Support grantees.
The 2022 General Operating Support grantee cohort includes:
- Friends of African American Art & Culture
- Galatians 62
- V.V. Reid School, Inc.
These three organizations join six other organizations receiving their second year of funding through the General Operating Support initiative, including:
- Cecil Williams Museum
- Killingsworth Home
- Power in Changing: The Diaper Bank of the Midlands
- The Hive Community Circle
- The Luminal Theater
- Webgyrlz Code
BIPOC Leadership and Training Program Graduates 14 Black Nonprofit Leaders
In February, the Community Foundation’s BIPOC Leadership Training and Coaching Program — a free nine-month leadership development program for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) mid-level nonprofit professionals — graduated its first cohort of 14 nonprofit professionals. The talent development and retention program is designed to increase participants’ knowledge, skills and confidence to seek promotional opportunities in the nonprofit sector.
The inaugural cohort included:
- Amelia Wilks
- Andrea Heyward
- Brittani Richards
- Cedric Mallett
- Chío Núñez
- Coretta Jamison
- Elizabeth Anderson
- FerTasia Green
- Guillermo Espinosa
- Janette Chen Rodriguez
- Maya Ward
- Quinn Hayes
- Tayler Simon
- Xavier Blake
Prioritizing the BIPOC Community in Grantmaking
In 2021, the Community Foundation prioritized BIPOC-led organizations in its grantmaking. Most recently, 64% of the grants from the Foundation’s One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response grants were awarded to BIPOC-led organizations, with 89% of the organizations serving majority-BIPOC communities.
In 2022, the Foundation’s Board of Trustees set a goal of having no less than 25% of grants from the Community Impact Endowment Fund and Field-of-Interest Funds to be distributed annually to BIPOC-led organizations.
Additionally, the Community Foundation also created a Black-led-and-benefiting nonprofit category on the Midlands Gives year-round platform allowing donors to easily identify and support Black-led-and-benefiting nonprofits in the Foundation’s 11-county service area. Individuals interested in donating to Black-led-and-benefiting nonprofits through the Midlands Gives platform can do so at www.MidlandsGives.org/nonprofits then add the filter “Black-led, Black-benefiting.”
For more information about the Community Foundation’s initiatives, visit https://www.yourfoundation.org/impact-initiatives/ or call 803-254-5601.
About Central Carolina Community Foundation
Central Carolina Community Foundation, the Midlands’ center for philanthropy, is a nonprofit organization serving 11 counties in the Midlands by distributing grants and scholarships and linking the resources of donors, nonprofits and area leaders to communities in need. Major initiatives include the online giving challenge Midlands Gives, On the Table, Connected Communities grants, the One SC Fund, and annual scholarships. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.yourfoundation.org or call 803.254.5601.
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