Community matters. Belonging, sharing aspirations and cherishing the common good are all central to our health and well-being, to happiness, and to trust.
The challenge and tumult of this era make community even more imperative.
In our 2024 annual report are stories of people redoubling their work in community, with great clarity of purpose. People turning toward one another instead of away. People doing the next right thing to serve those most in need. People persevering, together, in the face of great uncertainty.
Community is why the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation exists, and inspires everything we do.
The Foundation’s purpose is to “Make New Hampshire a more just, sustainable and vibrant community where everyone can thrive.” We advance that purpose by focusing on equity, racial justice and economic security across all areas of our work. That work has only become more urgent. And so we remain steadfast, and will be guided by these principles for as far into the future as we can see.
Those of us stewarding this timeless institution today will not likely see that purpose realized. That does not mean we let up. It means we keep moving forward, as far as we can — and in partnership with all of you — all the while nurturing the generations that will advance this purpose in decades to come.
In 2024, the Foundation made almost $65 million in grants to thousands of nonprofits working to make New Hampshire better for all, and $8 million in scholarships to help thousands of New Hampshire students thrive in communities and careers. We also continued strategic collaboration with hundreds of partners from the nonprofit sector, philanthropy, civil society, business and government. We continued to advocate for sensible public policy and align our investments with our values.
All of the Foundation’s work is possible because, since 1962, the state’s most generous people and their advisors have demonstrated their commitment to community by investing philanthropic resources with the Charitable Foundation to address the pressing issues of the day.
There is no question that the work before us has been made more difficult — by the fanning of the flames of polarization, by the spreading of misinformation, by policies and actions that are causing people to live in fear, by the defunding of common-sense programs and services that for generations have advanced health, safety, economic stability and the common good. And there is no question that nonprofits are being pressed beyond what even their resilience and ingenuity can sustain.
The challenges of this era are like nothing we have seen before. The Foundation is committed to working shoulder-to-shoulder with you, and in community, to help make sure everyone in New Hampshire has the opportunity to thrive.
Together, we will face these challenges with our focus on the common good unflinching, our love for community relentless.
This letter appears in the Charitable Foundation’s 2024 annual report. Read the full report here.
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