The choices facing nearly two-thirds of Black households in Michigan are stark and unrelenting, with many forced to choose between paying for a prescription or food, a utility bill or rent.

Muskegon’s Lakeshore Museum Center had big plans for the 2020 season. 

Sheldon Schwitek is among a number of West Michigan nonprofit executives who found themselves in new leadership positions in the middle of a pandemic.

Small businesses were clear benefactors when the federal Paycheck Protection Program was announced in March to help companies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A robust stock market, strong economy and low unemployment rate in 2019 created a trifecta that is credited for the second-best year in recorded history for charitable giving in the United States.

The announcement last month that five of the most influential U.S. charitable foundations would be substantially increasing their giving levels was met with gratitude by philanthropic leaders in Southwest Michigan.

Rescheduled. Postponed. Canceled. These are the words Michigan nonprofits are using frequently these days when talking about the status of fundraisers that are critical to the financial health of their organizations.

KALAMAZOO — As they deal with the effects the coronavirus pandemic is having on their bottom lines, businesses and organizations are engaging in some in-your-face thinking to generate revenue and keep their employees working.

Mike Goorhouse isn’t a banker, but the coronavirus pandemic has him thinking like one.

The fallout from the coronavirus pandemic proves how quickly sentiment can change among philanthropic donors. 

The amount of money area foundations are able to give away this year won’t change much, if at all, but 2021 could see some level of decreases depending on what happens with the stock market in subsequent quarters.

GRAND RAPIDS — Within the last two to three years, Keith Hopkins has been receiving more calls from organizations seeking his fundraising expertise with projects to address the growing and varied needs of senior citizens.

Like many cultural arts nonprofits, the Muskegon Museum of Art has been experimenting with ways to engage new audience members, especially younger people. For instance, that’s led to the museum holding events focused on craft beer or a particular type of imagery popular with that demographic, said Executive Director Kirk Hallman. However, those events are just the tip of the iceberg in reaching and getting donations from the next generation of donors. 

Despite all the distraction and noise around the 2020 election, veteran fundraiser Keith Hopkins does not think the cycle will have any effect on giving. Even so, he’s monitoring what’s going on in the economy and how the massive transfer of wealth could change what West Michigan nonprofits will need to do to attract the next generation of donors. 

United Ways around the country continue to focus on the population of people who are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE), or another measure for the working poor. United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region President and CEO Chris Sargent said about 40 percent of people in the region live paycheck to paycheck, which has many ripple effects in the community. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Backed by a three-year grant, the Grand Rapids Community Foundation aims to better understand and encourage philanthropic giving in the region’s African American and Latinx communities. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids Inc. wants to enable employees to achieve their professional work goals within the organization or other employment opportunities they may choose to pursue in the community.

Shortly after opening her philanthropic consulting firm in 2000, Christine Gavin got a firsthand look at the “unevenness” of philanthropy.

KALAMAZOO — A conversation among the leaders of four nonprofits has resulted in a collaboration that’s designed to save money and resources and improve service delivery to their clients.

Diversity, equity and inclusion have been foremost in the minds of people who work in Michigan’s nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.

GRAND RAPIDS — The inequities women face in daily life are often much worse for women who are incarcerated. 

GRAND RAPIDS — A house on Union Avenue SE may soon become part of the solution to providing safe and stable housing to the city’s growing population of homeless youths.

Just over three years ago, Joe Sobieralski was hired as the President and CEO of Battle Creek Unlimited.  Sobieralski joined BCU in 2015 as vice president and was then appointed interim CEO in 2016. Later that year, the interim title was removed. While there has been a lot of forward momentum under his leadership, he says there is still a lot more to be accomplished. With the renewal of his contract for another three years, we wanted to check in with him to get his view from the corner office.

GRAND RAPIDS — The ability of many nonprofits to successfully meet their missions can be directly tied to those who sit on their boards.

GRAND RAPIDS — The economic power of  Grand Rapids’ immigrant community grew by more than $100 million in just one year.

GRAND RAPIDS — Bethany Christian Services Inc. faces a difficult challenge in trying to ensure that unaccompanied migrant children who cross the border into the United States avoid any long-term effects from the detention process.

Building stronger relationships with donors who are part of a U.S. demographic shift should be part of the fundraising strategy for the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. 

KALAMAZOO — Creating workplaces where equity is the norm rather than the exception forms the basis for the Coalition for Inclusive Communities initiative.

GRAND RAPIDS — Within the next 20 years, the need for the types of services provided by D.A. Blodgett-St. John’s is projected to double.

BATTLE CREEK — The $22 million expansion of Western Michigan University’s College of Aviation at W.K. Kellogg Airport will include many visible signs of growth. Even so, Dave Powell, the dean of the aviation school, said he is focusing on an area of growth that’s less obvious: About 7 percent of all pilots and airline mechanics in the United States are people of color, and of that percentage about 2.5 percent are African American.