Spur Local

Each year, we create and distribute our flagship print catalog, the result of an intensive application process involving more than 200 small, community-based nonprofits. Our volunteer reviewers assess each applicant organization on how well their programs meet community needs and the power of those programs to create change. At the conclusion of the review process, we select 70-80 nonprofits deemed critical to our communities and highlight their stories and impact in the print edition of the catalog. To date, more than 36,000 donors have used the Spur locals platform to contribute 57 million to our network of over 400 nonprofits over the past 20 years.

Spur Local engages in a variety of digital and in-person efforts to raise community awareness of the impact of our nonprofit partners work. This includes but is not limited to social media amplification, a Spur local-produced blog, a digital catalog and related email campaign, and community events of varying sizes. The largest of these is community changemakers, an event that brings community members who are passionate about creating Local change face-to-face with the nonprofit organizations featured in our print catalog.

Our learning commons capacity-building program is in its 6th year. This program supports our nonprofit partners and the communities they serve with realistic and actionable advice through our workshops, webinars, and cohorts. Since 2020, we have trained more than 25,000 nonprofit staff who have attended 450 webinars and workshops on fundraising, communications, volunteer engagement, board development, and other key topics. Additional accomplishments for fy2023 included supporting sustainable growth at 13 organizations with budgets under 250,000 through our grassroots accelerator program, and launching a supportive community cohort for 71 emerging nonprofit leaders who identify as black, indigenous, or people of color.