For over 40 years I have worked one way or another in the arena of community economic development with a strong focus on rural communities in North America.

 

Nearly 30 years ago, in my search for funding to support community building, I became serious about philanthropy and the solutions it might offer. From 1991-1999 my work with Nebraska Governor Nelson, Lieutenant Governor Maxine Moul and the Nebraska Rural Development Commission led to the creation of the Nebraska Community Foundation (NCF). Today I am convinced that NCF is the best thing we accomplished in those eight years of innovative and hard work.

More recently my work with the Center in community development and philanthropy has been rich and insightful. The beauty of this work is that it combines original research with community applications. This combination seems to result in deeper learning that shapes future research and opportunities to advance community building with philanthropy. Given this vast learning, I decided to produce a series of short thought pieces. There will be six of these in 2017 to see whether they have value to you and others laboring in this space of community development and philanthropy. If they do, we will continue this commitment into 2018 and see what happens.

Don Macke conducts e-communities board training in Rooks County, Kansas 7/24/17

 

These thought pieces are rooted in my work with the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship and LOCUS Impact Investing. These are not academic research papers, although the insights are research-based and grounded in the realities of communities across North America. My intent is not to be definitive but to share what we are seeing in the hope that it will stimulate conversations and exchange. We want to hear from you. We want to learn from the field including policy makers, community builders, philanthropy and anyone else who cares to weigh in.

 

There are so many topics. A couple of weeks ago, I sat down one evening on our screened porch with a beer and began to reflect on our work and experiences and generated nearly 50 possible themes or topics. Trust me, we will be kind and only share five this year. Some of these topics relate to our new national transfer of wealth projections, our Transfer of Wealth™ work in a wide range of communities in America this year, the widening wealth gap, changes in how wealth is created in today's emerging economy, places where local wealth is being eroded due to economic decline, the connection between fostering entrepreneurship and locally rooted new wealth, and as you can see the list can go on and on!

 

Here is my proposed list of topics for 2017: 

So here you have it. If you know others that would like to receive these thought pieces let me know or have them sign up for this newsletter. Most importantly please share your own topics and as these short papers come out, engage with me or Deb Markley in a conversation. Share what you know and are learning. A little civil push back will be welcome!

My search for rural community prosperity solutions - Don Macke shares his personal search for solutions to the challenges faced by rural communities.

Why investing in community matters - Deb Markley discusses why she is so passionate about rural economic development and what she sees for the future.

How did a recovering attorney find her passion in local investing for impact?
Teri Lovelace, LOCUS President, writes about finding her passion for social finance and mission investing.