We’re watching a national crisis unfold in slow motion, and many of funding partners are grappling with the new normal and how best to support our culturally intelligent organizations.

Our team brings more than 800 years of combined team experience at Bridge Philanthropic Consulting working alongside nonprofit leaders who are changing the world: many of them running institutions serving communities of color that are doing the most vital work in our country. And here’s what keeps me up at night: 76.8% of Black-led and Black-benefiting nonprofits are operating on budgets below $500,000 annually. Nearly one-third are surviving on just $30,000 a year.

Let that sink in. These aren’t fringe organizations. These are the institutions holding communities together during crises: whether it’s a pandemic, economic collapse, or the next social reckoning. And we’re starving them of the infrastructure they need to scale.

The Statistical Chasm: The Numbers Don’t Lie

The data is devastating, and it’s been hiding in plain sight. According to research from Bridgespan and Echoing Green, Black-led organizations receive only 4% of total philanthropic giving in the United States. That’s not a typo. Four percent.

But it gets worse:

• Unrestricted net assets of Black-led organizations are 76% smaller than other organizations in the sector.

• Average revenues are less than half of what other nonprofits bring in

• Two-thirds of majority-Black led nonprofits have budgets below $100,000

• Only 2% of Black-led nonprofits have budgets above $10 million

“The capacity gap isn’t just about dollars: it’s about what I call the ‘Philanthropic Glass Ceiling,'” I tell our clients regularly. “Black-led institutions are expected to perform miracles on shoestring budgets, and then they’re punished when they can’t scale. At BPC, we refuse to let our clients settle for that narrative.”

As Patrick Rooney, Professor at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, points out: “Traditional feasibility models are built on assumptions about donor networks and wealth concentration that fundamentally don’t account for how Black donors give: or the systemic barriers that have historically prevented wealth accumulation in Black communities. We’re measuring these organizations against a yardstick that was never designed for them.”

The Risk of a Brittle Safety Net

Here’s the part that is most troubling in America: 80% of Black-led organizations report insufficient staffing to meet community demand.

Think about what that means during a crisis. When COVID-19 hit, when economic recession wiped out Black wealth: who showed up first? Black-led nonprofits. The ones with deep community roots, cultural intelligence, and trusted relationships.

And they showed up understaffed, underfunded, and over-extended.

The research is clear:

• 43.5% of Black-led nonprofits operate entirely with volunteers

• 45.65% have no paid part-time employees

• 86.5% always or often have trouble accessing a large, diverse number of funding sources

• 53% would shut down if they lost one or two key funders

This isn’t resilience. This is fragility masquerading as grit.

“We provide essential services in health, safety, violence prevention, policy advocacy, and racial justice while maintaining deep connections to our communities,” says Ebonie Johnson Cooper, President and CEO of the Young Black Giving Back Foundation. “But we can’t be the nation’s emergency responders while running on fumes. That’s not sustainable infrastructure: it’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

When we’ve helped our clients raise more than $2 billion in Capital investments over the years, we’ve learned one hard truth: Communities with the highest needs are getting the lowest investment. That’s not just inequity: it’s a national security risk.

Trust-Based Philanthropy vs. The ‘Audit’ Culture

Let’s talk about the elephant in the boardroom: the constant demand for Black-led institutions to “prove their capacity” before receiving funding.

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure.

Here’s how it works: A Black-led nonprofit approaches a major donor with a brilliant program that addresses a critical community need. The donor responds with: “We love this, but do you have the infrastructure to scale?” The nonprofit, which has been chronically underfunded for years, admits they need capacity-building support. The donor says, “Come back when you’ve built that capacity.”

See the problem?

The Association of Fundraising Professionals has been clear about this in their work in this area: “You can’t close a leadership and funding gap by asking the under-resourced to prove they’re ready for resources. That’s not due diligence: that’s gatekeeping dressed up as fiduciary responsibility.”

At BPC, we see this play out constantly:

• Funders demand multi-year strategic plans from organizations that don’t have the funding to hire a firm to produce them.

• Capital Investment studies that cost $50,000-$75,000 are required for campaigns, but there’s n funding to pay for the study.

• General operating support: the most flexible, powerful funding: makes up less than 20% of what Black-led institutions receive

• Meanwhile, 72.7% of Black-led nonprofits struggle to identify or cultivate new funders because they’re trapped in survival mode

The data from 2020 tells the story: foundations increased support to Black communities primarily in response to social movements, but as public attention waned, so did the funding. Reactive grantmaking doesn’t build institutional muscle. It creates dependency and burnout.

The BPC Solution: Building Institutional Muscle, Not Just Writing Checks

Here’s where Bridge Philanthropic Consulting comes in: and why our approach is different.

WE DON’T JUST HELP BLACK-LED INSTITUTIONS RAISE MONEY. WE HELP THEM BUILD THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY TO SUSTAIN IT.

Over 800 years of combined experience has taught us that capacity isn’t something you prove: it’s something you invest in. And our track record speaks for itself: we’ve helped clients raise more than $2 billion because we focus on the fundamentals and a sustainable mindset that most firms skip.

While traditional Consulting Firms focus on:

• Feasibility Planning studies

• Campaign management and execution

• Advancement operations

• Donor analytics

• Governance power alignment: Training executive directors and board members on the mindset shifts required to go from survival mode to strategic growth

• Revenue resilience modeling: Securing meetings with UHNW (ultra-high-net-worth) prospects who understand the value of unrestricted, multi-year commitments

• Capital System Design: Building the internal systems: data infrastructure, donor stewardship plans, case statements: that make campaigns successful

• Equity-centered capital strategy: We don’t just tell you if a campaign is viable; we help you build the capacity to execute it

“At BPC, we’ve made a commitment: we will not let our clients settle for shoestring budget requests,” I tell our clients during our first meeting. “If that means pausing on the request, because the restrictions do not align with their priorities, delay. If that means pausing a campaign to build board capacity first, we’ll do it. Because we’re playing the long game.”

As Susan Taylor Batten, President of ABFE has said: “The urgency isn’t just about moving money: it’s about shifting power. And that means investing in the institutions that have been doing this work for decades, even when it wasn’t trendy.”

What Happens If We Don’t Act

The math is simple and terrifying: if we continue underfunding Black-led institutions at current rates, we’re not just failing to close equity gaps: we’re widening them.

When the next crisis hits: and it will: we’ll once again expect these institutions to be first responders. Except this time, more of them will have closed their doors. More communities will be left without the hyper-local, culturally responsive services they need. And more of the burden will fall on systems (government, hospitals, schools) that were never designed to provide that kind of grassroots support.

The capacity gap isn’t just nonprofit problem. It’s a national resilience problem.

Join the Movement

At Bridge Philanthropic Consulting, we adhere to the highest ethical standards as members of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Association of African-American Development Officers, and the Giving Institute. Our commitment to social justice and social impact around the world isn’t performative: it’s proven through decades of results.

Visit Bridge Philanthropic Consulting to learn how we can help you secure prospect meetings, provide strategic guidance, and close transformational gifts with UHNW donors.

Because the capacity gap isn’t inevitable. It’s a choice. And we’re choosing differently.