Interested in building your philanthropic efforts through face-to-face conversations, long-term relationships and a localized mission? Place-based philanthropy just might be the answer.
Donors who choose to engage in place-based philanthropy focus their resources on improving the welfare of a particular town, city, state or region. They may also make national or even global grants, but the primary concern is a geographic community typically shared with their grantees.
Place-based foundations come in a wide variety of types and sizes, from large private foundations to small family philanthropies. Like community foundations, place-based donors commit to understanding the nuanced challenges and opportunities that shape a particular locale. Rather than spreading resources thin across multiple regions, place-based grantmakers immerse themselves in local or regional issues, offering hands-on collaboration and sustainable solutions.
Geographically focused giving offers powerful advantages for donors and recipients. These include:
- The power of long-term relationships: Donors focused on place often enjoy long-term relationships with a community’s nonprofit partners, grant recipients and other stakeholders, which foster trust, collaboration and innovation.
- Community impact on a personal level: Place-based grantmaking provides the opportunity for funders to engage directly with the communities they support. Donors have the privilege of witnessing progress up close, whether it’s improved neighborhood engagement or enhanced social services for underserved populations – all in a city, state or region they share with their grantees.
- Resilience to partisan squabbling: Amid today’s polarized socio-political landscape, philanthropy often becomes divisive. But place-based giving has shown remarkable success in bridging community divides by keeping focus on a shared goal: improving the quality of life of your neighbors.
This piece examines place-based giving strategies in three states – Pennsylvania, Indiana and Texas – and includes successful approaches that serve rural and urban areas.
The Connelly Foundation: Making Big Bets in Philadelphia
A prime example of place-based giving is the Philadelphia-based Connelly Foundation. Founded in 1955 by John and Josephine Connelly, the philanthropy began as an informal tool for charitable giving in the Philadelphia region, with a commitment to strengthening Catholic organizations and access to education. After John Connelly’s passing, his daughters transformed it into a structured foundation.
Historically, 90% of the family’s charitable funds supported Philadelphia, reflecting an implicit local focus. Recently, that commitment was formalized with nearly 100% of grantmaking now dedicated to the city. This shift honors the founders’ values, while emphasizing strategic, community-focused philanthropy, reaffirming its dedication to Philadelphia’s growth and success.
“Localism for us is not a restriction … it’s a suit of armor,” says Tom Riley, president of the Connelly Foundation. “Localism requires us to focus our grantmaking.”
Riley has seen up close the compounding benefits of place-based giving in improving civil society and what that means for the people of Philadelphia.
“You benefit as a participant in your own community and your own civil society in a way that would never happen at a national or international level,” he says.
Among the localized giving prioritized by the Connelly Foundation is leadership training and development in Catholic schools. For example, the foundation funds master’s degrees for school principals and sends them to leadership programs at institutions like the University of Notre Dame.
The foundation sends checks to nonprofit organizations during the holiday season to help them address urgent needs in their communities, such as buying toys for children, fixing cars or paying heating bills. It also shows appreciation for nonprofit leaders through small, thoughtful gestures. Examples include sending tickets to Phillies games or providing funds for office Christmas parties, helping nonprofit leaders feel valued and supported.
The recent reductions in federal government spending have been eye-opening for funders, because it’s shown how many nonprofits are deeply dependent on federal resources to fulfil their missions, Riley says. He sees this as an opportunity for community philanthropists to think and act strategically to ensure community needs are addressed. Moreover, Riley sees place-based giving as an important mechanism for bridging the partisan divide.
“At the local level, the vast majority of causes that people fund have no polarity, one way or another. That’s the case with most homeless organizations or small schools or soup kitchens or reading programs or museums,” Riley says.
The Foellinger Foundation: Building Futures, Strengthening the Community
Another place-based funder, the Foellinger Foundation, was established in 1958 by the visionary mother-daughter duo Helene and Esther Foellinger. The foundation has been a cornerstone of positive change in Allen County and the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana, area for over six decades. It was funded by resources derived from their family’s ownership of the News-Sentinel newspaper.
“Allen County geography was given to us by the family because that was the readership of the newspaper,” says Sarah Strimmenos, president and CEO of the Foellinger Foundation. “They believed the people that helped build their business should be the recipients of the family funds that they gifted to the community, which I think is very unique and special.”
The foundation’s donor intent directive was to focus on those with the greatest economic need and the least opportunity in Allen County. Its giving includes investments in venues like the Foellinger Outdoor Theatre and the Botanical Conservatory, community-centric grant programs for neighborhood engagement and initiatives aimed at fostering family and youth development and educational opportunity for teachers through support of Great KIDS Make Great Communities. Central to its mission is an evaluation system that ensures grants help individuals progress from crisis to independence, creating sustainable and lasting impact.
The local focus gives the Foellinger Foundation an opportunity to go deep with those in need over a lengthy period of time.
“Our independence continuum is probably 15 years from in crisis to thriving, and we acknowledge that some individuals may not advance through the full continuum. We’re not looking to make changes overnight, and we’re okay with playing the long game,” says Strimmenos. “Our theory of change is if we work with organizations that are mission-driven, well-governed and results-oriented, we will be successful. These well-established grantees have the depth of knowledge and relationships with other agencies to keep people moving forward toward self-sufficiency.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Strimmenos says, the Foellinger Foundation worked with other local funders to facilitate a collaborative community grant. Today, she adds, the area funders meet consistently with community leaders and local government officials to guide opportunity for potential collaborative investments aimed at the county’s most vulnerable. This approach will help the Foellinger Foundation and its colleagues meet new challenges in the years ahead.
“We feel a shared responsibility to have a broad base of support that is aligned with each of our respective missions and donor intent,” she says.
Abell-Hanger Foundation: Forging Lasting Relationships with Local Organizations
The Abell-Hanger Foundation, based in Midland, Texas, was established in 1954 by George and Gladys Abell. Committed to donor intent, the foundation focuses on broad-based giving, with 75% of its funding directed to Midland, 10% to 11% to neighboring Ector County and the remainder to West Texas and occasional national causes, such as disaster relief.
The foundation prioritizes education and health and human services, supporting scholarship programs, public schools, Midland College and organizations like Bynum School for special needs children. They emphasize unrestricted operational funding to sustain local nonprofits.
“Our trustees will say that our bread and butter is unrestricted operational support—to keep the doors open and the lights on for those causes we support,” says Mark Palmer, chief executive officer of The Abell-Hanger Foundation.
Place-based philanthropy allows the foundation to build mutually beneficial, time-tested relationships with recipient and fellow funders, Palmer says.
“When we build lasting bonds, we’re able to help one another reach specific goals,” he adds. For example, the Abell-Hanger Foundation participates in a long-standing monthly meeting of funders—the “funders roundtable”—to collaborate, share insights and discuss community needs.
“We have the opportunity, because of our long tenure in this community, of funding charitable organizations for decades—several of them. We have several very long funding relationships of more than 40 years. We know their history, who they are, who their leadership was,” he says.
“We have current and previous foundation trustees who have attachments to people and organizations going back decades, up to the current time. That knowledge brings with it a great awareness of the culture of the organization and what’s going on in those nonprofits we support.”
Recent community initiatives include addressing federal funding cuts, studying child care needs in Midland and tackling board engagement challenges in nonprofits.
With $4 billion in local foundation assets, Midland has a unique philanthropic climate, where nonprofits rely heavily on foundation funding, reversing the national trend of individual giving dominance.
The Compounding Benefits of Staying Local
Place-based philanthropy is a wonderful way to root your giving in specific communities. Working on a localized level provides a unique opportunity to foster meaningful connections, support long-term solutions and build resilient neighborhoods in your community.
“I would argue that another benefit of being local is that your kind of interest compounds more over time,” says Riley. “Your grantees are all in the same area. The investments you make multiply over years and decades and generations because they’re at arm’s length, and you can see them. That’s definitely not true for national or international philanthropy.”
Foundations with place-based missions may not always be successful in overcoming the political polarization in our country, but a shared “place” can be a powerful agent for cooperation and collaboration. And at a time when public funding is being reduced, there is a clear advantage to having donors who share a commitment to a specific locale consider a collective response to maintain necessary services. For funders looking to make an impact in spite of existing divides, these are critical considerations.
