Native Nonprofit Study Debuts At The National Native Americans in Philanthropy Conference

Apr 23, 2024

St. Paul, Minn. (April 23, 2024) – Native Ways Federation (NWF) announces the publication of their most recent study completed in collaboration with Melvin Consulting, LLC.  

The study entitled, On Our Terms: Supporting a Native Nonprofit Sector, diligently breaks down what the current philanthropic sector looks like for Native nonprofits and how it needs to most effectively change to create a thriving environment for Native-led entities.  

The study incorporated multiple surveys, focus groups, and in-person forums over a two-year span. With over 27 nonprofit leaders, across a wide spectrum of tribal communities and an even wider range of organizational demographics, five common themes presented themselves within the study. These themes include: Living Our values, Relationships and Interconnectedness, Self-Determination, Adaptability and Capacity Building, and Finanical Resources. 

“This report gives Native Nonprofits the solid foundation with which to stand on when spotlighting the needs of their Native communities to those in the philanthropic sector,” said NWF Executive Director Carly Bad Heart Bull, JD (Flandreau Santee). 

NWF would like to thank our Indigenous communities for their continued support and encouragement, and express our deepest gratitude to NWF’s founding members, Melvin Consulting LLC., Iroots Media, Renelle White Buffalo, Ne-Dah-Ness Rose Greene, and all of the participants who made this possible.  

About Native Ways Federation: 

NWF was founded in 2008 by a group of seven national Native-led nonprofits to activate and expand informed giving to Native-led nonprofits in Indian Country. We are committed to accomplishing this through donor education and advocacy, which includes our Native Nonprofit Day campaign. Our founding organizations include the American Indian College Fund, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, the Association on American Indian Affairs, the First Nations Development Institute, the National Indian Child Welfare Association, and the Native American Rights Fund.