http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/cohenreport/2007/09/26/halting-steps-toward-increased-rural-philanthropy/ On the intersection of nonprofits, politics, and public policy. Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:20:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/cohenreport/2007/09/26/halting-steps-toward-increased-rural-philanthropy/comment-page-1/#comment-231 Rick Cohen Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:58:03 +0000 http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/cohenreport/?p=38#comment-231 Dear Rural Advocate: I just wrote an article about Kellogg's new strategic shift in the latest issue of Youth Today (http://www.youthtoday.org/publication/article.cfm?article_id=2332), and I think you've touched on an important reality. I fully suspect that for however good or bad Kellogg's overall "vulnerable kids" strategy might be, even with the emphasis on three states with significant rural populations (Michigan, New Mexico, and Mississippi), I cannot imagine a Kellogg scenario that maintains the previous Kellogg commitment to rural per se. Similarly, I have been guessing that Ford might eventually lower its rural commitment as well. For all of the rural philanthropic activism, the COF national conference on rural philanthropy, and Senator Baucus's challenge, the end result is more likely to be a lowered emphasis on rural rather than increased attention for rural philanthropy. Put that into the context of the nation's economic spiral, and the bottom line numbers become pretty disappointing. Dear Rural Advocate: I just wrote an article about Kellogg’s new strategic shift in the latest issue of Youth Today (http://www.youthtoday.org/publication/article.cfm?article_id=2332), and I think you’ve touched on an important reality. I fully suspect that for however good or bad Kellogg’s overall “vulnerable kids” strategy might be, even with the emphasis on three states with significant rural populations (Michigan, New Mexico, and Mississippi), I cannot imagine a Kellogg scenario that maintains the previous Kellogg commitment to rural per se. Similarly, I have been guessing that Ford might eventually lower its rural commitment as well. For all of the rural philanthropic activism, the COF national conference on rural philanthropy, and Senator Baucus’s challenge, the end result is more likely to be a lowered emphasis on rural rather than increased attention for rural philanthropy. Put that into the context of the nation’s economic spiral, and the bottom line numbers become pretty disappointing.

]]> http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/cohenreport/2007/09/26/halting-steps-toward-increased-rural-philanthropy/comment-page-1/#comment-230 Rural Advocate Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:19:35 +0000 http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/cohenreport/?p=38#comment-230 Where do we stand today? With Kellogg shifting away from rural and sustainable agriculture issues to focus on "propelling vulnerable children to success" and now rumored shifts away from rural at Ford too, it appears we may be going backwards in the effort to bring more philanthropic dollars to bear on rural issues. Where do we stand today? With Kellogg shifting away from rural and sustainable agriculture issues to focus on “propelling vulnerable children to success” and now rumored shifts away from rural at Ford too, it appears we may be going backwards in the effort to bring more philanthropic dollars to bear on rural issues.

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