Urban League of Nebraska

The challenge

Throughout Omaha, there is a huge disparity between Black and White residents.

As a historic civil rights organization, Urban League of Nebraska has a long track record of addressing these issues in its community. But when our engagement began, the community was still reeling from the pandemic, and the organization’s new CEO faced tremendous challenges.

Countless studies show just how underfunded Black-led orgs are relative to their white counterparts. Nationally, funding to orgs serving Black communities accounts for a tiny fraction—just 1%—of all community foundation funding, and the unrestricted net assets of Black-led nonprofits are 76% smaller than those of white-led nonprofits.

More locally, Omaha’s philanthropic organizations give disproportionately to white-led nonprofits, with funders and recipients generally maintaining predominantly white boards of directors and white leadership, even when those organizations mainly serve people of color.

The solution

Bureau for Good first engaged with ULN to lead the organization’s response to the City of Omaha’s request for proposals for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. We worked with Urban League’s new CEO and program leaders to build a proposal for scaling up existing programs with evidence-based practices and best practices in program evaluation. That proposal, our first for the Urban League, brought in the largest single grants the organization had ever received.  

Later, when ULN’s longstanding Development Director retired, Bureau for Good helped reshape the job description for the Development Director position, interviewed candidates, and helped select a hire. In the meantime, we were assisting with the transition, performing preliminary revenue planning, and drafting a development plan for the future Director to rely on and shape to their liking.

Later that year, ULN secured a major grant from Mackenzie Scott. Bureau for Good began working with Urban League leadership to scale the earlier ARPA project. This work included facilitating partnerships, helping articulate new program plans, creating organizational charts and job descriptions, connecting staff to training opportunities, and packaging critical messages for funders.

As we led this long-term planning effort, BFG also handled the dozens of grants and reports required each year for effective stewardship of ULN’s nearly $2 million revenue portfolio.