Fort Worth leaders explore future of philanthropy in fast-growing city

With federal cuts occurring and looming, the Fort Worth philanthropic landscape is preparing for new challenges even as the community passes the 1 million population milestone. 

That was the message Thursday morning as leaders in the field discussed the city’s tradition of philanthropy and how it is changing in the face of reductions in government spending and evolving demographics. 

Fort Worth has a long history of philanthropy and foundations that can help nonprofits achieve their goals, said John Robinson, executive vice president of the Amon G. Carter Foundation and a panelist at a Candid Conversation event moderated by Fort Worth Report CEO and Publisher Chris Cobler.

Robinson believes the philanthropic landscape is shifting back to where it was when the first foundations were created in the post-World War II period. 

“For every capital campaign that’s gone on — there are exceptions where those families have taken a lead — but most foundations are only 20%-25% of a capital campaign. It’s individuals that are making them now,” he said. 

That is more like it was many years ago, Robinson said. 

“We went from individuals that were very interested to corporate things, and we’re back to individual things,” he said. 

Panelist Rose Bradshaw, President and CEO of the North Texas Community Foundation, said Fort Worth is a place where people respond when they find out about a problem and show up to help. 

She pointed to the story of building a new school in Uvalde following the May 2022 mass shooting tragedy at Robb Elementary. Then state Sen. Beverly Powell, D-Fort Worth, along with Fort Worth’s Huckabee Architects, raised more than $4 million for the new school. 

“The doors open in August in a town where people will never know our names, but (Fort Worth) showed up because it mattered,” she said. 

Those efforts occur locally, too, Bradshaw said. 

The community has put together a coalition with the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, the Miles Foundation, nonprofit leaders and hospital CEOs to tackle infant and maternal mortality in the area. 

“Funders stepped up to make it happen, and now we have a program underway that’s literally saving lives in Tarrant County,” said Bradshaw. “I am so heartened by the place where we get to sit at this nexus of really generous people and community leaders who are working their tails off on really hard problems and, as we grow, the problems get tougher.” 

Candid Conversation: Preserving the heart of philanthropy in Fort Worth

Panelists included:

John Robinson, executive vice president of the Amon G. Carter Foundation

Rose Bradshaw, president and CEO of the North Texas Community Foundation

Kelsey Patterson, co-founder of The Big Good 

Jessica Miller Essl, co-founder of M2G Ventures and the M2G Mental Health Initiative 

As Fort Worth grows, the demographics are also changing. The Big Good was previously a family foundation led by Gary and Kelsey Patterson. Later, the Pattersons rebranded and added a partner, Grammy-winning recording artist Leon Bridges, to reach a new demographic so their work, which focused on family issues, education and literacy, could continue. 

“Gary and I really saw an opportunity for growth, and we needed to make sure to establish sustainability for the Gary Patterson Foundation,” she said, referencing her husband, the longtime TCU head football coach. 

Patterson said a key to the foundation’s success was finding people who love the “mission more than you do.” 

“Especially now with federal funding going down for a lot of the organizations out here, you need to find people who are as invested in your mission as you are,” she said. 

Panelist Jessica Miller Essl is co-founder with her sister of M2G Ventures and the M2G Mental Health Initiative. 

The two Longview natives came to Fort Worth and opened their real estate business here because they saw the community as a place where they could make a difference. 

“I saw people wanting to open doors, which was very unique,” Essl said. “I thought, ‘This is a place where I want to do do business.’” 

At the event, Robinson shared his “CARTER” summary about having a heart for philanthropy

Care about specific issues/causes.

Articulate and make known the need to others.

Realistic and rational strategies and expectations are necessary.

Take others under your wing to educate and mentor.

Encourage others to get involved/volunteer because funding will follow their heart.

Recognize it takes your time, experience and resources to make things happen.

The sisters began their real estate firm in 2014. A year later, when Essl was pregnant, her husband at the time suffered a severe mental break after losing his job. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and struggled to find treatment options that worked. Within months, during a manic episode, he was hit and killed by a car. 

In 2017, the two sisters started the M2G Mental Health Initiative to help others in similar situations. The organization has three pillars: advocacy, community and research. 

Essl said the sisters applied their same entrepreneurial instincts for business to their nonprofit. 

“You can make an impact, if you care,” she said. 

Timing also helped. In 2019, the UT Southwestern Medical Center opened the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care which tied into M2G Mental Health Initiative’s mission. M2G has partnered with that organization to help fund research. They have also worked with other nonprofits, such as the Jordan Elizabeth Harris Foundation, which focuses on depression and suicide prevention. 

Their organization has raised over $1.6 million since the founding, Essl said. 

Forum attendee Wayne Carson, CEO at ACH Child and Family Services, a nonprofit organization that focuses on preventing and treating child abuse, neglect, homelessness and family separation, said he has seen an increase in mental health issues in the community in the past few years. 

“I think it is something we are seeing more of as we grow,” he said. 

Fort Worth’s growth is a challenge, all panelists said. Fort Worth — now officially the nation’s 11th-largest city — was among the five fastest-growing metropolitan areas from 2023 to 2024. More than 23,440 people moved to Fort Worth to reach 1,008,106 residents, according to U.S. Census data.

Essl sees Fort Worth as a place where a series of trailblazers have identified things they wanted to focus on. That often relates to business, but it also extends to the philanthropic world, she said. 

“They don’t want to be a drop in the bucket,” Essl said. “They want to be someone to really push change. I think that trailblazer mentality is something that’s really unique to our community.” 

That mentality may be more difficult to achieve as the city grows, she said. 

“If you can get people involved, their money is going to follow their heart,” Essl said. “You can get them to volunteer, and as they learn more about whatever the issue is, if it’s a passion of theirs, that money will follow.” 

All the panelists said they expected the next few years to be tough with cutbacks and changes at the federal and state levels. 

Collaboration will be key, said Patterson. 

“It’s important to us that everybody succeeds, and as your funding gets tighter, you do have to become more efficient,” she said. “All of us were efficient to begin with, and we think that there’s nowhere to get tighter or leaner, and it’s more about efficiency as a community.” 

Efficiency was one reason The Big Good was formed, Patterson said. 

“We looked at it and said, ‘How can we be more efficient, and how can we do more?’ And we really feel like our partnerships with these, with our beneficiaries, make us more efficient and make them more efficient,” she said. 

ACH’s Carson said that sometimes just a little funding can go a long way. He said a recent program to support grandparents who are raising their grandchildren has proven effective, even though it only offers some minimal support. 

“Sometimes just that little bit can be so effective,” he said. “It can make a big difference as to whether that child will be raised by a family member or go into the foster care system.” 

Nonprofits can be resilient, said Robinson. He recalled, when he was chair of United Way of Tarrant County allocations in about 1990, Lockheed Martin lost a contract and 20,000 jobs disappeared overnight. 

That also meant the loss of $3 million in funding at United Way. Instead of cutting programs and personnel, United Way went to the nonprofits they supported and explained the situation. 

“The nonprofits responded with, ‘Oh, we’re going to get less money from United Way. Well, I think we’ll combine those two centers, or we’re going to redouble our marketing efforts, and we’re going to reach out,’” Robinson said. 

There were a variety of responses because there were not enough local resources to replace that lost money, he added. 

“I think a lot of you will find resources and strategies that you never thought of before, because you have to,” he said. 

Bradshaw said the North Texas Community Foundation has joined with community foundations in Dallas to conduct a regional nonprofit survey to understand what nonprofit leaders see coming in the future. 

“We have to help our leaders think through the next stage of work,” Bradshaw said. “They need 21st-century tools and know how to navigate this new world.” 

It will take money, she said, but “it’s also going to take new ways of thinking and approaches.” 

About 300 people attended the event held at the Trinity River Campus at Tarrant County College. Tarrant County College and the North Texas Community Foundation were the presenting sponsors. 

Disclosure: The North Texas Community Foundation, Amon G. Carter Foundation, United Way of Tarrant County, BNSF Railway and Tarrant County College have been financial supporters of the Fort Worth Report. News decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at [email protected]. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

Related

Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.