More operating support to flow to New Hampshire nonprofits in 2018

New Hampshire asks a lot of our nonprofit sector.

New Hampshire nonprofits are on the front lines of the addiction crisis, they are mentoring our kids, delivering mental health services, protecting our natural resources, reporting on issues critical to our democracy, working to create welcoming and inclusive communities.

They are working during an unprecedented opioid crisis, when the number of kids growing up in low-income households is significantly higher than it was a decade ago, when environmental issues are much more complex because of climate change. Meanwhile, proposed policy changes and budget cuts at the federal level threaten to deliver a cruel blow to the nonprofit sector and the vulnerable people it serves.

When we ask what our nonprofit partners need — in person, through surveys, and with third-party evaluations by the Center for Effective Philanthropy — one theme has come through again and again: Please provide more unrestricted grants so we can focus more on mission and less on fundraising — and make them over longer periods.

So that’s what we are going to do.

Starting in 2018, one hundred percent of grants from our Community Grants program will be for unrestricted purposes. And the majority will be multi-year grants.

The Community Grants program is only one of our grantmaking programs, but it is the most visible and wide open: Any nonprofit serving New Hampshire can apply. (Information on all Foundation grant programs can be found here.)

New Hampshire’s nonprofits are doing heroic work under challenging conditions and in turbulent times with uncertain funding. They are constantly being challenged to do more and innovate more.

What they need is more flexible capital to keep doing what they do so well.