Resource Type: Commentary and news

Rural America is often spoken of as if it were a single place: a stretch of heartland, a scattering of towns, a flat landscape dotted with fields and farmhouses. In reality, the picture is far more complex — and far richer. Nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, and almost a quarter are people of color. These communities are home to deep cultural traditions, close-knit civic life, and an abundance of untapped talent and creativity that fuel the nation’s food systems, industries, and arts. Yet among the youngest rural residents, one in five grows up in poverty — the highest rate across all age groups nationwide.

This gap between perception and reality often obscures the nuanced beauty of rural life, leaving entire regions undercounted, misunderstood, and underfunded. Despite the fact that nearly one in five Americans lives rurally, these regions receive just 7% of philanthropic capital — leaving schools, housing, and infrastructure chronically underfunded.

Nowhere is this tension clearer than in the Mississippi Arkansas Delta, a region that embodies both the challenges and the possibilities of rural America. Long celebrated as the birthplace of the blues and a wellspring of cultural creativity, the Delta is equally defined by the resilience and ingenuity of its people — communities that have sustained one another through generations of economic and social change. Yet the Delta is also home to some of the nation’s most persistently poor counties, where pathways to steady work and economic security remain too few and far between.

“What’s struck me most is how much creativity, expertise, and leadership already exist in rural communities,” says Robert Burns, director of the Walton Family Foundation’s Home Region program. “When you start by listening, you quickly see that the ideas and solutions we need are already there. Our role is often simply to help remove barriers and expand access to the opportunities residents are already working hard to create.”

Burns notes that the Delta’s greatest strength is its people — and that funders must match that strength with humility and long-term commitment. “The Delta is a place of deep history, culture, and possibility,” he says. “But it’s also a region facing persistent inequities, including a significant wealth gap. That’s exactly where bold, community-led investment can make a real difference.”

While Burns emphasizes the talent already present in rural communities, Kim Davis, president of the King Foundation, underscores what it requires of funders: humility, proximity, and a willingness to shift power.

“I’m proud that I’ve been able to keep community at the center of this work,” he says. “At Walton, we lifted up the Delta and brought visibility to a region too often overlooked. And at King, we’ve doubled down on proximity — on wearing the jersey of community instead of playing the superhero, and on fueling local leadership with the resources and trust they deserve.”

For philanthropy, the Delta represents both a stark challenge and an extraordinary opportunity: to invest not just in infrastructure or programs, but in its already-existing wells of creativity, leadership, and cultural capital — and to help scale them into lasting engines of resilience and shared prosperity.

The Realities of Rural Investment

Despite the enormous promise rural America holds for investment, attracting and sustaining that capital is rarely straightforward. Communities often face infrastructure gaps, fragmented leadership, and logistical barriers that make it hard to scale solutions across regions. Agriculture is also no longer the primary driver of rural employment, meaning that investments must now also reach sectors like manufacturing, health care, and small business.

The stakes of these challenges are deeply human: “When you look somebody in the eyes who’s thrown in the towel and thinks nobody cares about them, it breaks your heart,” says Colby Hall, Director of Regional Economic Development at Craft Philanthropy. “But when you remind them that they’re here for a reason — that they have unique gifts and a path forward — that’s transformational work.”

The Delta region mirrors many of these more broad-based rural challenges, including persistent poverty, housing shortages, and childcare gaps that keep parents, especially women, out of the workforce. Yet despite these barriers, the region also holds great promise; proximity to midsize metros like Memphis and Jackson creates natural economic ladders, while the rise of remote work expands job opportunities for residents.

Ultimately, solutions in the Delta must be built with — not for — local people, which means investing in the workforce, supporting affordable childcare, and helping residents access training that connects them to emerging industries or remote work opportunities. It also means strengthening civic infrastructure: ensuring that there are strong backbone organizations, convening spaces for collaboration, and opportunities for communities to share lessons with one another across county lines.

“Rural communities are deeply familiar with performative or extractive forms of support, so it’s critical that funding be rooted in authenticity and trust,” says Anna Beth Gorman, CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas. “When funders listen first and partner closely with community members, the solutions are not only more relevant, but also more sustainable.”

Rethinking Scale

For funders accustomed to measuring success by the size of their impact, scale in rural regions can look deceptively small. As Dreama Gentry, president and CEO of Partners for Rural Impact, notes, clarity about what level of place you aim to reach is key. 

“In rural areas, much of the work happens regionally — but ‘region’ can mean different things depending on whether you’re focused on health, education, or economic development,” she says. “What matters most is aligning your definition of community with the outcomes you hope to achieve.

Being realistic about the number of people you can reach, she adds, is equally important: “A regional strategy might engage thousands, while a neighborhood effort could reach hundreds — but that might still mean 80% of local youth are benefiting. In rural contexts, depth of reach often matters more than raw numbers.”

Sherra Bennett — Senior Program Officer at the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation — builds on this point, encouraging prospective funders to remember that a grant that can seem modest in a metropolitan context can be transformative in a rural context.

“Sometimes funders focus on how many people are reached, but in rural places, it might be 50 or 75 instead of 5,000, and that smaller number can still create a ripple effect that transforms the region,” she says. “If you’re looking for scale in terms of volume of people, you can easily overlook the real amount of work and collaboration that’s happening in rural communities.”

Bennett notes that those scaling challenges extend to organizations themselves, which are often operating with very small staff and limited infrastructure. “They’re doing a lot with a little — stretching dollars, building networks, and leveraging informal systems to get things done,” she says. “What they need most is flexible, multi-year funding that builds capacity — not just programs,” she says.

What’s Already Working in the Delta

Despite the challenges it faces, there are also bright spots in rural regions that demonstrate what effective investment can look like. In the Delta region specifically, funders like the Walton Family Foundation are investing in education pipelines and place-based development; the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation has prioritized investment in grantees like Communities Unlimited, which emphasizes economic mobility and equity; and the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas is advancing opportunities for women and families. Other regional and national partners are supporting workforce development programs, broadband expansion, and the strengthening of civic infrastructure. 

The lessons are clear: the most successful programs are community-led, equity-driven, and built to last. Together, these efforts show that progress is possible when investment is rooted in local priorities and designed for long-term impact.

“People assume rural means limited, but I’ve seen rural leaders accomplish things with fewer resources that some larger institutions struggle to achieve,” Davis says. “They collaborate across silos, stretch every dollar, and create solutions grounded in lived reality. That ingenuity — born out of necessity — isn’t just admirable, it’s instructive for all of us in philanthropy.”

“If we can figure out how to unlock economic opportunity for rural people — give them purpose, dignity, and a fair shot — I think that’s the greatest domestic challenge we face as a country,” Hall says. “The development that’s coming will happen in rural America, and it’s critical that those benefits reach the people who’ve been left out for decades.”

NationSwell’s Place-Based Collaborative has unearthed several field-tested strategies for championing rural investment:

• Let communities define “place.” Avoid one-size-fits-all boundaries; listen to residents about where meaningful change can take root.

• Go beyond bricks-and-mortar. Proximity to schools or clinics doesn’t always mean access. In Greenville, Mississippi, for example, residents live near critical services but still face life expectancy as low as 63 years and labor participation rates around 60. Effective investments must address underlying barriers — from healthcare access to workforce participation — not just physical infrastructure.

• Use data-driven, asset-based mapping. Tools like the Urban Institute’s rural typology help funders tailor strategies to local strengths, whether rooted in natural resources, emerging industries, or cultural institutions.

• Account for variation across rural places. No two communities are alike: some are near metros, others are energy hubs or farming towns. Treat this diversity as an opportunity to customize strategies, not as a hurdle.

• Map leadership and empower local champions. Pastors, superintendents, and grassroots organizers are often the connective tissue that builds trust and convenes coalitions.

• Align on shared outcomes. Clear, measurable goals — such as third-grade reading proficiency or high school graduation rates — can unite divided communities and build internal alignment for funders.

• Support backbone organizations. Strengthening civic infrastructure ensures progress outlasts any one grant cycle.

• Invest in local talent. Hiring and skilling up residents, supporting affordable childcare, investing in transportation, and expanding pathways to remote work all build durable local economies.

• Bridge federal funding gaps. More than 400 federal programs target rural America, but recent cuts to funding stand to blunt the impact these programs have. Funders can play a catalytic role by underwriting grant-writing capacity, supporting local planning efforts, or co-investing alongside federal dollars.

Building Capacity, Building Momentum

Momentum grows when funders act as conveners — not only bringing resources to the table, but also helping rural communities connect, share solutions, and collaborate across regions. Over time, this creates a stronger ecosystem of leaders and institutions that can sustain progress well beyond any one grant cycle.

“Rural communities are beautifully complex,” Gorman says. “Even when resources are limited, people find innovative and adaptive ways to meet challenges, build opportunities, and support one another. That blend of determination and ingenuity is both inspiring and humbling to witness.”

The Delta’s challenges are generational, but they are not insurmountable. With patient capital, authentic partnership, and a commitment to long-term outcomes, funders can help transform the trajectory of entire communities. Even for those who cannot commit decades of investment, there are catalytic opportunities — like building job training pipelines or strengthening early childhood systems — that can shift local economies and empower residents for years to come.

For too long, rural communities like those in the Delta have been treated as an afterthought in philanthropy. By investing in the Delta, funders are not just addressing inequality — they are fueling the resilience, creativity, and prosperity of a region that has always been at the heart of America’s story.

In offering her advice to prospective funders, Bennett encourages a wholesale attitude shift — moving away from eyeing the region’s challenges and toward an embrace of all the potential and complexity it holds.

“Avoid a deficit mindset,” she says. “The challenges are real, but so are the tremendous assets — the cultural wealth, the deep social bonds, the vision of what already exists. Rural communities don’t need saving; they need investment, sustainability, and patience.”

Now is the moment to show up, listen deeply, and commit boldly. The Delta is ready for partners who believe in its future.