What We’re Reading: “A Cultural Shift.” Nonprofits See Lasting Changes Coming Out of the Pandemic.
“Some of the changes that we instituted during the pandemic were things that we were actually thinking about before,” said Rashad Cobb, community engagement program officer at the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation. He summarized, “These weren’t necessarily new ideas that we had never thought (of) before, but maybe the pace at which we would’ve implemented these ideas was sped up by the pandemic.”
“I think that creativity can equal resilience,” Tom Linfield, vice president for community impact at Madison Community Foundation Development (MCF) said. “I think a lot of the nonprofits stepped out of their comfort zone and succeeded, and that doesn’t always happen. So I think some of them were bold, and creative and that worked for them. And so I hope that will build their capacity moving forward.” MCF Development Director, Angela Davis also said she saw an increase in Black families engaged in the formal, usually-White-dominated philanthropy space – a trend she’s noticed the past few years but which accelerated in 2020.
“Philanthropy (in) the Black community has always been there, which we all know. It just may not have been called ‘philanthropy,’ but it’s always been there. And now it’s becoming more mainstream for Black folks to come together … to give back,” she said. “I’ve never worked with so many Black folks before in my career. And that says a lot that they want to give back, particularly with education. That they want to make sure that next generation has the support to get that education.”
“These things have been gradual, but I think it’s part of the momentum that has been growing over the course of the last decade,” Linfield said.