In September of 2023, a new report titled Tracing Community Economic Development Funding Flows was published by the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA).
Reading this report will help you understand why advocating for funding streams and regulatory systems is uniquely important for community economic development organizations.
The report examines how money moves through the community economic development (CED) sector.
The brief asks two simple questions:
- How much revenue flowed to which types of organizations?
- Do different types of organizations draw revenue from different sources?
The report reveals that:
- $23 billion flowed into the sector in 2018.
- Social service provision is more prevalent throughout the field than previously understood.
- Government grants are the single largest source of revenue for the field, at $8.6 billion in 2018.
- Organizations that both develop and manage real estate are substantially larger than other groups in the sector.
- Organizations that are primarily real estate developers and managers depend, to an unusual degree, on income generated from their own programmatic activity. Groups that primarily deliver social services are largely supported by government grants and funding.
The diversity of business lines and activities required to serve CED missions has created an increased need for funding directed toward internal management.
A previous issue brief, Community Economic Development Organizations and Their Activities, describes the types of organizations that make up the CED sector.