Seeking the 'Most-Promising Nonprofits in America'
July 1, 2009

President Seeks the 'Most-Promising Nonprofits in America'

By Suzanne Perry
Chronicle of Philanthropy

Washington DC

President Obama announced today that White House officials will travel across the country to find “the most promising nonprofits in America” as the administration decides how to spend a new $50-million fund to help charities expand innovative social projects.

Surrounded by more than 100 philanthropic leaders in the East Room of the White House, Mr. Obama said he was glad there were some “deep pockets” in the audience, as he also wants corporations and foundations to chip in to help the administration create a “new kind of partnership between government and the nonprofit sector.”

“Our nonprofits can provide the solutions,” he said. “Our government can rigorously evaluate these solutions and invest limited taxpayer dollars in ones that work.” But, he said, private donors are needed to provide seed capital, matching funds, and strategic advice.

“If we work together, if we go all-in here, think about the difference we can make,” he said.

‘Grass-Roots’ Innovation

President Obama spoke after representatives of four nonprofit groups — Bonnie CLAC (Car Loans and Counseling), Harlem Children’s Zone, Genesys Works, and HopeLab — described their projects.

He said those groups showed that “solutions to America’s challenges are being developed every day at the grass roots — and government shouldn’t be supplanting those efforts, it should be supporting those efforts.”

The $50-million Social Innovation Fund, managed by the Corporation for National and Community Service, was created by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which was signed into law this spring. (It is still waiting a formal Congressional decision to appropriate the money.)

Mr. Obama said Melody Barnes, his domestic-policy adviser, and members of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation would fan out to every region in the country to search for grant candidates.

“We won’t just be seeking the programs that everybody already knows about, but we also want to find those hidden gems that haven’t yet gotten the attention they deserve,” he said.

The president said the administration would apply this “new way of doing business” across the government, citing two examples: the Education Department’s $650-million “What Works” fund and a new project by the Health and Human Services Department to send nurses and other professionals into the homes of troubled families, which is seeking programs with “the strongest record of success.”

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Copyright © 2009 The Chronicle of Philanthropy

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