CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the past 13 years, Valaida Fullwood has been in the business of giving back.
“I’m proud to have been a co-architect in Black Philanthropy Month,” she mentioned.
She’s one of the founding members of New Generation of African American Philanthropists. Fullwood said she was inspired to bring Black Philanthropy Month to Charlotte after a trip to Minneapolis.
“I was inspired and brought it back to Charlotte and shared it with giving circle members,” she shared.
Since 2011, NGAAP has led the Black Philanthropy Month Initiative in Charlotte during the month of August. It celebrates Black-giving and advocates for racial funding equity in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area by uplifting Black-led nonprofits.
“We also look at Black benefiting. That majority of communities and people being served, and issues being addressed are those that disproportionately affect Black people,” said Fullwood. “We recognize that when we invest in a segment of the population that has been denied access or opportunity, that it opens up opportunities for other marginalized communities.”
According to SHARE Charlotte, 76% of Black nonprofits operate with less then $500,000 in annual revenue. A third of them operate on $30,000 per year.
“I was trying to aspire to get to the next level of CEO or executive director of a mid-to-large size nonprofit organization. I kept wondering, what was the deal,” Harold Rice Jr. explained. “You had a lot of nonprofits in the area serving people that looked like me yet there were only a handful of leading that looked like me.”
Rice Jr. runs Black Social Capital Initiative. In 2017, he started the organization to help uplift and spotlight Black professionals in the nonprofit space.
“We have welcomed grassroots leaders in the fold because we don’t want them to be out there isolated (and) alone. There are some funders we can introduce them to because they are doing great work,” Rice Jr. stated.
BSCI offers both mentoring and coaching. Since the first cohort, he said three people have received CEO jobs.
As a Black-led nonprofit, BSCI has also been directly impacted by the generosity of NGAAP. Not only through a grant but through volunteer work.
“The word philanthropy is rooted in love. If you have a love for people and for community it doesn’t matter how many zeroes are behind the dollar sign,” Fullwood said.
Black Philanthropy Month culminates with CLT Gives Black Day on Wednesday, August 28th.
Contact Nick Sturdivant at nsturdiva1@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.