Every dollar in funding provided by foundations to 13 nonprofit advocacy and civic engagement organizations in North Carolina led to $89 in benefits for state residents, according to a new report that intends to shed light on how to generate greater returns on investment for foundations.
The report, published Monday by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), found that local nonprofits that actively engaged citizens in the state leveraged their foundation support into nearly $2 billion in benefits for North Carolinians.
Aaron Dorfman, executive director of NCRP, said the staggering return on investment was not a surprise to him.
"With our research, we are giving foundations in North Carolina and around the country reasons to increase their support for efforts that advocate on and organize around critical policy issues and involve citizens in the process," Dorfman said.
Even these monetary measures of success do not measure the full impact of the 13 organizations studied, according to the report’s researchers.
NCRP said it found non-monetary gains on a range of issues including poverty, worker rights, education, health care, housing, environment and civil rights.
Advocacy efforts by the 13 nonprofits led to more seniors accessing affordable medications and an estimated 139,000 minimum wage workers saw their income increase.
"Our foundations are endlessly on the lookout for ways to serve our communities," said Bobbi Hapgood, executive director of the NC Network of Grantmakers. "We look to this report as a resource for how foundations may partner with some nonprofits and affect change in their communities."
The study may encourage more grantmakers to invest in nonprofits that engage people to solve problems and address root causes of problems, not just alleviate symptoms, NCRP said.
On Monday, representatives from foundations, the 13 nonprofits and other organizations from North Carolina gathered in Greensboro to discuss the potential impacts of the study findings.