Nonprofits Lag in Attracting ‘New Economy’ Money

Charities are struggling to cultivate funding ties with “new economy” firms in the service, science, and technology fields, Reuters reports from a panel discussion on sustainable philanthropy held Wednesday in Boston.

Such firms are more likely to make targeted donations to select organizations rather than give broadly to an array of civic groups, as did more established businesses with deeper philanthropic traditions, speakers said. Many older companies have also merged or moved, affecting longstanding ties with charities in their original communities.

Nonprofit groups face a challenge figuring out how to apply “appropriate points of pressure to those that are making a lot of money in town and are not at the table,” said Joan Wallace-Benjamin, head of the Home for Little Wanderers, a family- and child-services charity.