NFF Theory of Change

We believe that NFF effects change in communities by working with our lending and consulting clients – the organizations who work within those communities – and through advocacy directed at partners and systems, which often control the flows of resources into communities. 

It’s through these partnerships with numerous stakeholders that NFF’s work leads to greater racial equity and community wealth and well-being. On the ground, this means: 

• communities having greater agency to control their own resources,  
• the creation of more jobs and services to support thriving local communities, and  
• healthier, more vibrant communities.

Communities of color have long been excluded from building wealth as a result of institutional and systemic, structural racism, and so we are especially focused on how we can support and partner with organizations led by and serving people of color. 

We partner with our nonprofit clients, specifically the executive leaders of organizations, to provide capital and financial consulting in order to realize the long-term goals of their organizations and those they serve in communities. 

We work with funders and investors to connect capital to community-led and community-responsive projects and services, which directly results in greater access to capital for nonprofits advancing racial equity and community wealth and well-being. 

At the systems level, we also work to support changes in funding policies and practices (i.e., improvements in the ways that nonprofits are funded and the funding they are provided). In practical terms, this means more timely payments of government contracts to nonprofits and shifts in funding to enable nonprofit leaders to pay their staff living wages and cover their full costs. 

In order to better serve our clients and meet our mission, NFF must continue its own internal work to become a more equitable organization.