Our Commitment to Our Clients and Racial Equity
We are committed to improving the way money flows to community-centered organizations led by and serving people of color. It will both strengthen those organizations and support a sector-wide shift toward more equitable funding and financing, creating better outcomes for all. To arrive at meaningful, equitable solutions, we are working closely with and ultimately must be guided by those impacted by our inequitable funding and financing systems.
To solidify our strategic commitment to racial equity, in 2021 we launched “Plan 50%+,” with the goals of investing more than half our total lending in organizations led by people of color, providing more than half our deep consulting services to organizations led by people of color, maintaining an NFF team that is more than half people of color and in which people of color hold more than half of leadership positions, and committing more than half of our thought leadership to centering our clients’ insights in our external communications and promoting more racially equitable funding practices.
We achieved each of these goals, and we’re not stopping there.
Our work continues today with new targets that align with our 2024-2026 Strategic Plan. We’re using our 40+ years of experience as a nonprofit lender, consultant, and advocate – and our team’s diverse backgrounds and lived experience in the social sector – to support and partner with organizations led by and serving people of color. We are dedicated to ensuring that:
- 50%+ of our nonprofit clients have leaders who identify as persons of color.
- 75%+ of our clients are primarily serving communities of color
- 75%+ of our clients work in communities most disconnected from economic prosperity, such as low-income and rural communities
We also commit to:
- Maintaining an NFF team that is more than half people of color and in which people of color hold more than half of leadership positions.
- Dedicating more than half of our thought leadership to centering our clients’ insights in external communications and promoting more racially equitable funding practices.
- Modeling what it means to be an equitable intermediary by more intentionally putting our access and resources to work for community-centered clients, respecting that those closest to the issues must be closest to the solutions.
- Serving as a trusted advisor to nonprofit networks led by people of color, helping them to access financial insights and investment capital to meet their aspirations.
- Using our vendor relationships to promote racial equity.
These are important steps in a longer journey as we transform who we are and how we work, putting our clients’ interests first to promote racial equity and support vibrant communities.
Here's a look at how we're doing toward these goals.