Greenville County’s nonprofit and philanthropic leaders understand that our community is changing; the often-cited data point that we’re projected to have 200,000 more residents move here over the next 20 years is an indicator of how much we’ll continue to change.
Our nonprofit community is changing as well. We have 2,777 nonprofit organizations in Greenville County, including 854 new nonprofits since just 2016.
Do we have enough philanthropic resources to support them, and are our philanthropic funders working together to ensure Greenville’s future is one with abundant opportunities for all who live here? These were a few of the questions we set out to answer with many partners in a first-of-its-kind look at the philanthropic landscape in Greenville County.
We are pleased to share the results with our many nonprofit and philanthropic partners. The study provides crucial insights into the scope of philanthropic investment in the region and sets the stage for collective planning to address future community needs.
Key Findings:
- Charitable giving has not kept up with inflation.
- Local foundations and funding organizations provide just a fraction of nonprofit budgets.
- Individual giving presents the greatest opportunity for nonprofits.
- Individual giving has changed dramatically in the last five years.
- More nonprofits are finding ways to earn revenue through mission-aligned business opportunities.
- Grantmaking and grantseeking can be time-consuming, and nonprofits and philanthropic funders can make it easier on each other.
- Greenville County and South Carolina capture only a small fraction of national grants.
- Our community lacks sufficient data to make decisions and align efforts.
- Trust is more important than ever.
Data for the Philanthropic Landscape study was gathered from:
- Five key informant interviews
- Two funder focus groups
- 51 nonprofit surveys
- Social network analysis
- 20 funder surveys
- Secondary data sourced from the IRS, Giving USA, and other sources
The project’s sponsors included the Community Foundation of Greenville, the Hathaway Family Foundation, Hollingsworth Funds, and the Jolley Foundation.
The research team included Community Research Group and ISI Consulting.
What’s next? There is much opportunity for the community to respond, and we at Greater Good Greenville raise our hands to help. Recommendations and key actions are noted within the report.
Want to learn more? Please reach out to us by email, or sign up for our newsletter for updates.
