Guest Post: RACF Regional Work

For years, we have seen philanthropy act as a force of good and giving back to areas of need in communities across the country. What we also have seen is that those dollars tend to be directed towards some of our most concentrated areas of poverty, or urban centers. A lot of our neighbors living in poverty tend to live near social service centers which are often located in cities or more populated areas.

At Rochester Area Community Foundation, the majority of our grantmaking has historically been directed towards Rochester and Monroe County. However, we are a resource for eight counties in Western New York, seven of which can be described as more rural than urban. Although the population density is different in our more rural counties, we know that our neighbors living in poverty in our more rural communities face challenges too, some of which are exacerbated by the lack of resources and transportation to get to and from resources that do exist.

Did you know that rural areas receive about seven percent of philanthropic spending, even though they account for 14-20 percent of the population? The Chronicle of Philanthropy published an article this fall (find it here) that explores why our rural communities in America are struggling, and what role philanthropy can play. I encourage you to give it a read to help understand how philanthropy can and will be showing up differently.

We have recognized that we have room for growth in our grantmaking in our rural communities and have been implementing a regional strategy that allows us to show up differently than we have in the past. We want to open our eyes to the “rural blind spot” that exists in philanthropy and have been on a learning tour and building relationships throughout our entire footprint over the past two years. This has resulted in a rework of our grant cycles, a renewed commitment to our full eight-county region, and new relationships and first-time grant recipients in some of our most distressed rural communities.

They say once you know better, do better, and I am proud to be part of the improved effort of engaging our more rural communities to connect more resources with need across all communities that our Community Foundation serves.

Sara Bukowiec is the Senior Program Officer at Rochester Area Community Foundation in the Community Programs Department, where she spearheads the Foundation’s regional strategy to ensure equitable grantmaking across all eight counties that the Foundation serves in Western New York. Before joining the Foundation, she worked in economic development, nonprofit management, and real estate. Sara enjoys the outdoors, live music and exploring the Finger Lakes. She lives in Fairport with her USMC Veteran-turned-entrepreneur husband (J.C.), 3 year-old-son (Wesley), and rescue dog (Georgia).