Among the many mounting concerns in the U.S. nonprofit sector are burnout and low staff retention—especially for those working on the front lines and are closest to the communities they serve. Since 2016, the Building Movement Project (BMP) has fielded the Race to Lead survey every three years, collecting responses from more than 12,000 nonprofit leaders and staff—one of the largest datasets on race, leadership, and nonprofit work in the United States. They were asked: Is high turnover among frontline staff inevitable, or is it driven by organizational conditions leaders can address? | | | | Congratulations to longtime staff member Brian Reitz, who was recently promoted to Vice President, Community Investment effective Jan. 5, 2026. Brian joined the foundation in September 2017 as the community foundation's first agency endowment and engagement officer, working with nonprofits in the community to establish or grow their endowments. In his new role, Brian will be responsible for leading the foundation’s community investment strategies, including grantmaking, nonprofit partnerships, and community leadership initiatives. Prior to joining the foundation, Brian served as executive director for Hale Farm & Village and Habitat for Humanity of Portage County. Brian is a graduate of Kent State University. | | The Soul of Philanthropy, now on display through Wednesday, Feb. 14 at the Akron Art Museum, is a national touring exhibit that showcases the rich history and impactful stories of Black philanthropy. Through a combination of photography, interactive displays, and personal narratives, The Soul of Philanthropy aims to broaden the understanding of philanthropy and challenge traditional notions that often exclude the contributions of the Black community. Inspired by the book "Giving Back: A Tribute to Generations of African American Philanthropists," by Valaida Fullwood, the exhibit is an initiative of Akron Community Foundation's Black Giving Collective Fund, which is building an endowment to benefit the Black community in Summit County forever. | | | | | AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are powered by something called generative AI. That just means the tool creates things, words, images, outlines, based on the instructions you give it. Think of it like giving a smart assistant a task. The clearer and more detailed your ask, the better the outcome. If your prompt is too short, too vague, or missing important context, AI will guess, and not always correctly. That’s why prompt writing is a skill. Prompts aren’t just for long emails or fundraising campaigns. You can use them for a blog post, a donor thank-you note, a compelling grant proposal, a quick social media caption, or even your next strategic plan. Once you learn the rules, you can apply them anywhere. | |
Nonprofit Insights Conference returns March 12
| | Nonprofits, mark your calendars: Akron Community Foundation’s Nonprofit Insights Conference will return Thursday, March 12, at the Doubletree by Hilton Akron Fairlawn. This affordable all-day event will feature industry-leading presenters who will share ways to help improve your nonprofit through several topics. Look for details about this event in the coming months. | | | | | How are Black-led nonprofits—organizations with majority Black leadership and serving predominately Black communities—navigating race-explicit language in the current funding climate? What role does race play in their conversations with funders and the language they use to describe their work? These are some of the questions Candid and ABFE explore in a new joint report: Holding the Line: Black-led Nonprofits and Race-Explicit Work Amid Backlash, which includes responses from 1,113 nonprofits, including 246 Black-led nonprofits. | | Thank you to all grantees for your patience throughout the launch of our new grantmaking system. If you haven't already, we encourage all grantees to log into our old grant management system and download your previous grant applications from your account, along with any other associated documents and files, like reports and budgets for your own archive. We also ask that you complete any outstanding grant reports. The deadline for saving this data and completing these tasks is Dec. 15. We will not be able to guarantee the availability of the data after this date, and payment for unrequested grants will be delayed. If you have any questions or issues, please email Cristina González Alcalá, Director of Community Investment, at cgonzalezalcala@akroncf.org. CLICK HERE for the link to our old grant portal. CLICK HERE for download instructions. | | BVU’s “Ask the Expert” program provides virtual 60-minute one-on-one sessions, offering an opportunity for the nonprofit and the skills-based volunteer to work on a small project or for the skills-based volunteer to answer questions or provide practical suggestions. Topics range from branding and data, to budgeting, employment law and human resources. | | | The 2026 Female Youth Symposium, part of Akron’s MLK Power, Love, and Justice Weekend, will take place Saturday, Jan. 17 at Buchtel High School. The symposium, geared toward young ladies ages 14–24, features a whole day of activities, like keynote speakers, artists and breakout sessions focusing on confidence, wellness, life readiness, and leadership. The event is looking for volunteers and student participants for a number of roles. For more information, visit mlkakron.org. | | | The Nonprofit section of our website features helpful, free information and resources like training videos, past newsletters, articles and more and is updated regularly. Check back for the latest news and information. | | |
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Contact Us
Akron Community Foundation
345 West Cedar St. Akron, OH 44307
Office Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday
Phone: 330-376-8522
Fax: 330-376-0202
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