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Martin Levine of NonProfit Quarterly examines a tech-backed nonprofit accelerator and poses a round of questions asking if this philanthropic effort helps solve problems like inequality, environmental threats, forced migration, and illiteracy or its partnerships make it part of the problem.
Cueing from a Fast Company article describing a tech-backed nonprofit accelerator, Fast Forward, Levine writes that the company is available to very-early-stage nonprofit startups, providing them with $25,000 coupled with training and mentoring. Just recently, Fast Forward has announced it had secured a new round of funding and raised $5 million in new philanthropic funding from leading companies, such as Google.org and many others.
Levin points out that Fast Forward claims its network has touched 51 million individuals and received more than $100 million in funding. So skeptics might wonder if the $5 million might be better spent going directly into the nonprofits' coffers.
Levine asks, do efforts of this kind obscure the severity of the problems an out-of-control extractive economy creates?
Levine quoted Ruth Cambridge who underscored the message of Anand Giridharadas, author of Winner Take All, "It remains to be seen... whether the nonprofit sector will begin asking itself some deeply uncomfortable questions."
According to Levine, these are tough questions when money is tight and dreams and passion are high.
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing has gained popularity in recent years as clients seek to align their investments with their values and promote positive change in the...more
Foundation: Marguerite Casey Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Skoll Foundation, Target Foundation, Ford Foundation, Philadelphia Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation
"The US creative economy was most recently valued at over $1 trillion by the National Endowment for the Arts," per a press release, "even before considering film, fashion, video games, beauty, food,...more
The University of Utah's Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy has narrowed its list of finalists for its $500,000 Climate Launch Prize to seven. The goal of the prize, which is one of the...more
"Having a purposeful job actually does transform someone's life," says Edwin Walsh, who runs a social enterprise in Australia called Assembled Threads. "You actually are moving someone from...more
Canada is putting its money where its mouth is, with a $2.5 million investment in five projects in India meant to help the country's poor, the Toronto Star reports. "Many of these novel projects...more
"These figures underscore the vital role that creativity and culture play not only in enriching community life but also in driving economic development." So says the chair of Pennsylvania's...more
Foundation: Community Foundation of Southern Indiana
"When you see the kids interacting and them building communitythat's what it is," says Camp Quality Kentuckiana executive director Eddie Bobbitt. "It's bigger than fishing and pie fights." The...more
The Whitfield Education Foundation is holding its annual golf tournament Monday in Dalton, Ga., and it's using the event to raise money for teacher grants. The foundation's executive director,...more
Foundation: Community Giving Foundation
"There's one simple statement that we see a lotthat is 'be kind,'" said Kara Seesholtz, CEO of the Community Giving Foundation, after students from 15 school districts in central Pennsylvania handed...more
The Alzheimer's Association's Forget-Me-Not program has a new toy in its arsenal: fidget blankets. The Madison Hospital in Alabama has received a $2,500 grant from the Huntsville Hospital...more
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Building a Million Dollar Company Where Everyone Counts
Ganesh Natarajan is the Founder and Chairman of 5FWorld, a new platform for funding and developing start-ups, social enterprises and the skills eco-system in India. In the past two decades, he has built two of India’s high-growth software services companies – Aptech and Zensar – almost from scratch to global success.
