Brief #2: Tracing Community Economic Development Funding Flows

Tracing Community Economic Development Funding Flows is the second issue brief in the Money Meet Communities Series. It examines how funding flows into community economic development (CED) groups groups by answering two basic questions:

• How much revenue flows into each of the five types of CED groups?
• Do different types of groups draw their support from different sources?

A better understanding of the basic financial flow of funds to these groups will allow us to recommend public policies that strengthen the CED sector. This brief has 3 key findings:

Of the $23 billion in revenues generated by the CED sector in 2018, about half flowed to groups that primarily provide social services.

Social services agencies rely heavily on government funding compared to other types of CED groups, which generate most of their revenue from earned income.

CED groups that carry out multiple types of activities are substantially larger than single-purpose groups.

The first brief in the series, Community Economic Development Organizations and Their Activities, describes the five types of groups that form the community economic development sector.

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