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What Is a Community Development Corporation?

NonProfit Quarterly

Image credit: coffeekai on istock.com Community is one of humanity’s great achievements. Yet community development corporations , a $28 billion sector of over 6,200 nonprofits that support local community economic development, are largely invisible in the national conversation.

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Unlikely Advocates: Worker Co-ops, Grassroots Organizing, and Public Policy

NonProfit Quarterly

Up to this point, legislation for most worker co-ops was not a priority; federal policy wasn’t even a pipe dream. Public policy wasn’t really a part of our culture. Why Prioritize Public Policy and Advocacy? 6 Engaging in public policy advocacy is not without its dangers. Until it was.

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How Guarantees Can Advance Community Development and Racial Equity

NonProfit Quarterly

While many foundations screen their endowment investments based on environmental, social, and governance factors, only a few optimize their investment strategies for mission impact. Financial guarantees are a powerful tool, yet they are underutilized in the social sector. One confounding challenge is low field awareness.

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Building Public Support for Employee Ownership: Lessons from Colorado

NonProfit Quarterly

A recent study found that employee-owned businesses, defined as employee ownership of at least 30 percent of business shares, which all employees having access to owning, are more productive, grow faster, and are less likely to go out of business than non-employee-owned businesses. million active employee-owners.

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How to Eliminate the Myth of Meritocracy and Build the World We Deserve

NonProfit Quarterly

Co-produced with the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), this series examines the many ways that M4BL and its allies are seeking to address the economic policy challenges that lie at the intersection of the struggle for racial and economic justice. These racist stories then shape our policies for years and years.

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How to Align Assets with Mission: Small Steps That Nonprofits Can Take

NonProfit Quarterly

A salient example is of organizations that are focused on community development but invest in mass incarceration. Liquidity policies help organizations understand the resources needed to carry out ongoing operating activities, but even liquid assets can be managed with an eye towards mission.

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Nonprofits as Battlegrounds for Democracy

NonProfit Quarterly

While the title of the book might belie the scope of inquiry, Dunning makes the case that using nonprofits as a “tool for addressing urban problems” has led to a form of “urban governance” that uses private organizations to fulfill public, democratic rights. Dunning smartly points out that this approach turned rights into privilege.