Photo Credit: New Mt. Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, West Garfield Park, Chicago

Round table discussion convened by North Park University, Center for Civic Engagement and The Leaders Network 

As part of the enduring legacy of Black churches, local Black faith leaders play a prominent role in delivering social services to their congregants and local communities because of the implicit trust they engender. As a result, many faith leaders and their congregations have created church-affiliated and/or faith-based nonprofits to facilitate these efforts beyond the walls of their churches.

Although the separation of church and state is important, many of these church-affiliated and/or faith-based nonprofits do not access as many public and philanthropic resources because of assumptions or suspicions that these organizations are using grant funds to proselytize. Yet, the vast majority of these organizations are careful to delineate the purposes of the dollars they receive.

The failure to fund Black-led, church-affiliated and/or faith-based nonprofits located in Black communities has a direct impact on the nonprofit resource gap that falls across racial lines. Echoing Green’s research finds that “Despite making up around 10% of nonprofit leadership in the U.S., Black and Latine nonprofit leaders only receive 4% of philanthropic funding.”

This round table will address the legacy of church-affiliated and/or faith-based social impact and pathways to sustainability.