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Commissioner urges Slingshot to prioritize neighborhood capacity, not only high-profile nonprofits
Summary
Commissioner Thornton warned that relying on Slingshot metrics risks favoring well-resourced, citywide nonprofits over neighborhood groups and called for capacity-building and district-level data; Slingshot said it works with a range of organizations and offers free support to smaller groups.
Commissioner Thornton pressed Slingshot Memphis on whether the firm’s evaluation favors larger, citywide nonprofits instead of neighborhood-based organizations. "I take a lot of issue in us cherry picking people for their social connecting connections without building capacity for them to have their own infrastructure," Thornton said, urging the subcommittee to avoid unduly penalizing small or nascent neighborhood groups.
Jared Barnett (S2) responded that Slingshot’s work is not a binary judgment and that the organization offers free evaluation support to nonprofits of varying sizes. "A good example of that is Lifeline of Success...we also work with large nonprofits like Porter Leath as well," Barnett said, noting Slingshot’s work ranges across small and large organizations and that their main requirement is time to do a rigorous study.
Thornton also asked for district- or ZIP-level mappings showing where grant dollars are deployed and recommended aggregating county funding sources and outcomes so the county can measure total population reach instead of isolated program counts. Commissioners agreed that capacity-building at the neighborhood level should be part of any evaluation approach.
