Deutsche Bank, Newman's Own, MetLife, Fortitude Fund, and FB Heron Foundation among list of Funders Supporting the Nonprofit Investing Directly in Poor Families
It’s not often that a nonprofit touts how much it isn't doing to help low-income Americans, but that’s a key pitch of the Family Independence Initiative (FII). And funders are listening.
In simplest terms, FII gives poor families access to funds that they can use however they want, which could mean buying a car or house, paying for childcare, or formalizing a small business. In exchange, families report back on how they used the money. The idea is that families and communities know best what they need to climb out of poverty. The best thing nonprofits, foundations and the government can do is to provide funds to do it and then get out of the way.
The nonprofit gets funding on a national level and also seeks out philanthropic and corporate partners in each new city where it sets up shop. Its national funders include the Burt Family Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the F.B. Heron Foundation, the Friedman Family Foundation, the Google Foundation, MetLife Foundation, Newman's Own Foundation, New Profit, the Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The nonprofit’s work in New Mexico is funded by Kellogg and United Way of Central New Mexico. In Massachusetts, the Boston Foundation, the Eos Foundation, the Janey Fund Charitable Trust, the John Hancock Foundation, the Kuehn Charitable Foundation, the Rowland Foundation and Cambridge Community Foundation support FII’s work. The Fortitude Fund, the James Irvine Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation fund work in northern California. Deutsche Bank chips in in New York...