Focus on Housing, Health, and Hunger (A Guide for Donors)

Focus on Housing, Health, and Hunger (A Guide for Donors)

View the full guide of High Impact Philanthropy in the Downturn. Download High Impact Philanthropy in the Downturn from our Investment Analysis. View the Table of Contents.

Why This, Why Now?

Three years ago, the Center for High Impact Philanthropy was founded to provide analysis and decision-making tools to help philanthropists determine where their funds can have the greatest impact in improving the lives of others. Given the breadth and severity of the current economic downturn, the question we needed to answer was clear:

Where can individual donors make a significant difference in addressing the suffering caused by the economic crisis?

We began this effort in April when we issued High Impact Philanthropy in the Economic Downturn – Action Agenda. Since then, there have been many new developments, including major federal funding initiatives and hopeful signs that the economy is stabilizing. Yet as we write this, unemployment and foreclosure rates remain alarmingly high; foundation assets and state and municipal budgets have been drastically cut; and the nonprofits that provide a critical safety net in communities around the country continue to face heightened demand for their services precisely when their resources have shrunk.

Now, more than ever, donors need to understand where their resources can deliver big results. To help donors understand where such high impact opportunities exist, our multidisciplinary team relied on numerous sources of information. These sources included available academic research, policy briefs, financial and performance data from nonprofits, and emerging statistics on the overall economic situation. We interviewed dozens of experts including economists, funders, nonprofit staff, government officials, and researchers. To understand client needs and the day-to-day realities of the nonprofits working with them, we conducted site visits, including observing housing counselor sessions and listening in on outbound and inbound help lines.

Our hope is that by doing much of this legwork for you, we provide the kind of independent, practical advice that will move you to translate concern and good intentions into impact.

Why we focus on housing, health, and hunger

Although the needs for philanthropic support are great in many areas, this guide focuses on three issues in particular. They are:

  1. Preventing foreclosures
  2. Sustaining primary and preventive healthcare programs
  3. Ensuring access to food

We focus on these areas because in each case, the need has clearly spiked due to the downturn. Even with the recent surge in government stimulus, there remain structural gaps that philanthropic capital is well positioned to fill. Effective and cost-efficient nonprofit solutions exist. Acting now means not only addressing an immediate need, but also avoiding enormous future costs. In short, these are three areas where individual donors can obtain a big bang for their philanthropic buck.

What you can expect in each section

This guide was written for individuals seeking to turn their philanthropic capital into a meaningful difference in people’s lives. To that end, each section includes the following:

  • A brief analysis of the current situation
  • A description of high-impact models to improve the situation, including an estimate of the impact and cost of each model. These estimates were derived either from our team’s analysis of available data or from rigorous cost-benefit analyses
  • Examples of the model in practice to help potential donors understand how nonprofits target these issues effectively
  • Contact information for nonprofits mentioned and tips for finding a local nonprofit delivering these models in your community

As with all of our work, we have vetted this material with content experts, individual philanthropists, and advisors to ensure that our guidance is both smart and actionable. It represents the best advice we can offer at this time. We welcome continued input and are exploring ways to update this material to incorporate new information and new developments. To download the guide, please visit our Investment Analysis page. To receive notices of updates to this guide, you can subscribe to the Economic Downturn updates.

UPDATES

August 12 2010

From NPR: The Good And The Bad In July’s Foreclosure Report

Read the full story on the NPR.org website: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129146629. Read an excerpt below:

"The default notices, the scheduled auctions — those are at least decreasing on a year-over-year basis," says Celia Chen, who covers housing markets for Moody's Analytics.

"That means we're working through the problem," Chen adds. "We're going to feel the pain for a little bit longer, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel."

But others see things differently.

"We need to be quite cautious in breathing a sigh of relief," says Marietta Rodriguez of NeighborWorks America, a housing counseling organization.

She says unemployment continues to be a problem, pushing homeowners over the edge. And there's a new crop of loans that will reset in the next year — making the payments harder to handle.

Read from Opportunity 1: Prevent Foreclosures about how philanthropy can help prevent foreclosures: http://www.impact.upenn.edu/images/uploads/UPenn_CHIP_DownturnOpp1_Nov09-PreventForeclosures.pdf
 

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July 15 2010

Benefits Data Trust, BenePhilly guide seniors through government programs

Posted on Mon, Jul. 12, 2010

By Paul Jablow

For The Inquirer

Read the full article on the Philly.com website here: http://www.philly.com/philly/health_and_science/98220519.html. Read about the Benefits Data Trust Model in Practice in High Impact Philanthropy in the Downturn.

The trust now has filled out more than 200,000 applications to help low- and moderate-income seniors enroll in state and federal aid programs including prescription assistance, Medicare, food stamps, and property tax relief.

In Philadelphia alone, the nonprofit, which runs a program called BenePhilly, has completed 13,452 benefit applications for low-income city residents and helped them get $35.8 million in benefits.

The trust, based in Center City near Logan Square, has grown to 40 employees and $3 million in annual revenues, and was cited in December as a model of "efficient and effective philanthropy" by Penn's Center for High Impact Philanthropy.

Read the full article on the Philly.com website here: http://www.philly.com/philly/health_and_science/98220519.html. Read about the Benefits Data Trust Model in Practice in High Impact Philanthropy in the Downturn.

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July 13 2010

BenePhilly INITIATIVE RECEIVES $500,000 IN USDA FUNDING

BenePhilly INITIATIVE RECEIVES $500,000 IN USDA FUNDING
BenePhilly Helps Eligible Seniors Apply For Federal and State Assistance Programs

http://www.bdtrust.org/links/bphillyinitiativereceives$500000usdafunding.html

Philadelphia, July 7, 2010 — Today, Mayor Michael A. Nutter and officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) received a $500,000, two year grant from the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service. These dollars will help fund BenePhilly, a joint initiative between the City and Commonwealth to enroll the thousands of low-income Philadelphians eligible for, but not receiving, valuable federal and state benefits. BenePhilly hopes to use these dollars to help seniors apply for SNAP, the federal food assistance program, as well as PACE and Medicare prescription drug programs, and Pennsylvania’s property tax and rent rebates. Since its inception, BenePhilly has assisted seniors in completing 13,500 benefit applications, worth more than $32 million in benefits.

Read the full press release on the BD Trust website here: http://www.bdtrust.org/links/bphillyinitiativereceives$500000usdafunding.html

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July 13 2010

New Pilot Project Will Help DPW Identify Philadelphia Seniors Who Are Eligible for Food Assistance

News for Immediate Release
July 7, 2010

http://www.bdtrust.org/links/newpilotwillhelpdpwidentifyphilaseniorseligforfoodassistance.html

New Pilot Project Will Help DPW Identify Philadelphia Seniors Who Are Eligible for Food Assistance

Philadelphia – Thousands of Philadelphia senior citizens living on limited incomes could receive help paying for nutritious food under a pilot project involving federal, state and local partners, Pennsylvania Secretary of Public Welfare Harriet Dichter announced today.

“Many older adults are struggling to buy nutritious foods on a tight budget, but they may not be aware assistance is available,” Secretary Dichter said. “This pilot project will help identify and reach out to those seniors to help them receive the fullest benefits for which they are eligible.”

Read the full press release on the BD Trust website here: http://www.bdtrust.org/links/newpilotwillhelpdpwidentifyphilaseniorseligforfoodassistance.html

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April 14 2010

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