Where is Impact Alamance’s North Carolina Funding Headed in 2017?

A fairly new health legacy funder that we recently started following in North Carolina is called Impact Alamance and based in Burlington. This is a locally focused health funder, yes, but it also supports public education and nonprofit capacity building efforts in the state. To kick off 2017, the grantmaker published a piece on its blog about its current goals and big changes ahead.

Let’s look at the key points that prospective grantseekers should be aware of.

Even More Support for Education

Unlike lots of health legacy funders, Impact Alamance has made a specific priority out of public education. It makes sense when you really think about it too, since education is one of the largest factors that affects one’s health in the long-run. This funder is really paying attention to the local education scene and looking for ways it can help.

According to the foundation blog, “The hope is that the school system’s redistricting plan, should it be passed by both the Board of Education and county commissioners in 2017, will aid in that goal by creating schools with more equal opportunities than are currently provided.”

The Launch of Alamance Achieves

Not only is Impact Alamance paying attention to education, it even launched a new nonprofit organization dedicated to it. Impact Alamance is the parent organization for the new nonprofit that’s designed to support public education. The foundation blog post shared, “Its executive committee, which consists of 15 Alamance County leaders, will begin working on the first of four specific goals in 2017: ensuring that every child is healthy and ready for school.”

This is a partnership with the Alamance Wellness Collaborative that launched with a $150,000 grant for a new playground. The fact that the start-of-the-year post (and the only one so far this year) was exclusively about education makes a bold statement about where the funder’s priorities are at right now.

The Latest Health Funding News

The last big health grantmaking news that came out of Impact Alamance happened last fall. Back in October, the foundation committed $215,000 to improve the health of Alamance County residents, but that was just a small part of a much larger $2 million total commitment for the year. All of the funds in this particular round, however, went towards long-term supply and equipment needs. This is significant because these are the types of needs that often get overlooked and ignored by other funders, especially health-specific foundations. Groups receiving this type of support included the Alamance County Children’s Dental Health Center, Burlington Development Corp., and Crossroads Sexual Assault Response and Resource Center.

During a time when many foundations are narrowing their focus and targeting more specific issue areas, this is one that is diversifying to tackle the root causes of what it started out with. In the months and years ahead, keep an eye on this funder if you work in the field of education in this region of North Carolina. Check out the IP profile of Impact Alamance in our Southeast Funding Guide to learn more about how and where this funder gives.

Related: Impact Alamance