Episode 308: The Money Behind Nonprofits

Cuts to federal funding have made headlines for months. But what actually happens to nonprofits when that government money dries up? Professor Claire Dunning explains how federal funding helped build the modern nonprofit sector, why this money has long felt invisible, and how public and private funding have become so intertwined. She explores the ways in which philanthropy can shape nonprofits' priorities and influence which policy ideas get funded — and what that means for the people and communities nonprofits serve.

For more on this topic:

• Read Dunning's commentary in Vital City, An Antidemocratic Approach to Democratic Governance

• Check out her book, Nonprofit Neighborhoods: An Urban History of Inequality and the American State 

• Read her op-ed in The Washington Post, How the Rise of Urban Nonprofits Has Exacerbated Poverty