Across the U.S., rural, small town and Indigenous communities struggle to access the resources they need for their people to thrive. While these communities often look out for one another in powerful ways, they receive a disproportionately small share of total U.S. philanthropy, vital resources for innovation, for transitioning to new economic footing and for bridging to other forms of capital. Given the national context, including rising inequality and polarization, it has never been more important to bridge this resource gap and engage with rural social entrepreneurs and communities that are taking on entrenched challenges.

“Philanthropy, in the past, mostly left rural places and small towns behind, mirroring and perhaps even exacerbating those divides,” explained Kim Syman, a managing partner at New Profit who leads its Systemic Solutions Initiative. “Consider that 20 percent of the people in our nation are living in rural places; 85 percent of the places in this country that are considered to be living in persistent poverty are rural; 7 percent of our nation’s foundation funding is directed to rural communities—and that includes universities and hospitals. So, there’s a rural philanthropic capital gap. And I would say this is not a rational adjustment to relate as a cost of living, for example, but actually a gap driven by many converging factors…And it represents a huge opportunity to be part of transformative work that has implications for all of us everywhere.”

Watch the full video about rural philanthropy at Worth.