NCF’S holistic approach includes investment, capacity building, and ecosystem work grounded in deep partnership with nonprofit leaders. This differentiates NCF from peer funders and is leading to better outcomes.
The Way We Work
We Listen
NCF is proximate from its inception to its implementation. We work to be deeply authentic, and to create a safer than normal space for nonprofit leaders. NCF considers nonprofit leaders the experts in their fields and listens deeply to their perspectives; NCF’s leadership can connect with nonprofit leaders given their own lived experiences.
We Co-Design
NCF co-designs with nonprofit partners through a non-shaming approach that puts nonprofit leaders at ease and fosters deep relationships. The partnership-based approach enables nonprofit partners to collaborate and innovate in ways they don’t otherwise have the time or resources to do. Through this process we support the creation of an ecosystem that has been absent for our leaders.
We Disrupt
NCF is not bound by calcified rules and decades of precedent. NCF is operating as a funder and disrupting philanthropy from within. We challenge the ecosystem to shift outdated practices with urgency, and while we believe that trust is an imperative intention, it is critical that we begin by building a relationship grounded in respect.
The traditional approach to philanthropy has left us with a profoundly inequitable nonprofit sector, one where Black and Latino nonprofit leaders currently receive only about 4% of philanthropic funding in the U.S., though they make up roughly 10% of nonprofit leadership nationwide.*
*Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Justice, Mismatched: Philanthropy’s Response to the Call for Racial Justice.
