Plan 50%+

We are committed to improving the way money flows to community-centered organizations led by and serving people of color. It will both strengthen those organizations and support a sector-wide shift toward more equitable funding and financing, creating better outcomes for all. To arrive at meaningful, equitable solutions, we are working closely with and ultimately must be guided by those impacted by our inequitable funding and financing systems.

To solidify our strategic commitment to racial equity, in 2021 we launched “Plan 50%+.” This work continues today. We’re using our 40+ years of experience as a nonprofit lender, consultant, and advocate – and our team’s diverse backgrounds and lived experience in the social sector – to improve the flow of money to community-centered organizations led by and serving people of color. We are dedicated to:

  • Investing more than half our total lending in organizations led by people of color.
  • Providing more than half our deep consulting services to organizations led by people of color.
  • Maintaining an NFF team that is more than half people of color and in which people of color hold more than half of leadership positions.
  • Committing more than half of our  thought leadership to centering our clients’ insights in our external communications and promoting more racially equitable funding practices.
  • Modeling what it means to be an equitable intermediary by more intentionally putting our access and resources to work for community-centered clients, respecting that those closest to the issues must be closest to the solutions, and convening an external panel to provide guidance and accountability.
  • Serving as a trusted advisor to nonprofit networks led by people of color, helping them to access financial insight and investment capital to meet their aspirations.
  • Using our vendor relationships to promote racial equity.

These are important steps in a longer journey as we transform who we are and how we work, relentlessly putting our clients’ interests first to promote racial equity and support vibrant communities.

Here's a look at how we're doing toward these goals.