The Power of Local Nonprofits
Connecting to Place, Working with Community, and Building the Movement
I have had the honor of working with local nonprofits in recent years. Their work is critical to solving local and global problems. I’ve seen firsthand their ability to effect needed change through collaborative efforts such as— Literacy for Environmental Justice, the YMCA of SF, and others in San Francisco Children and Nature; and Climate Resilient Communities, Nuestra Casa, Rise South City, and the Thrive Alliance of Nonprofits in planning San Mateo County’s first-ever Climate Summit with the theme of Adaptation and Equity.
Most nonprofits in the US are small, local, and community-based, leading grassroots change and providing mission-driven services. Ninety-two percent of nonprofits have annual revenues that are less than one million dollars.
Fran Barrett of the Community Resource Exchange in New York City shared her observations about the impact of small nonprofits that often work under the radar:
These small organizations get kids into schools and keep them there, feed hungry people and get them access to entitlements, counsel battered women, and work with immigrants to bridge the gap with a new culture, all the while providing innovative and creative arts and cultural programs.
