Showing Digital Equity + Black Philanthropy + Small Business.

How Digital Equity, Black Philanthropy and Small Business Intersect

In Charlotte and across the Carolinas, a giving circle, a corner shop and a home internet connection can look like three different topics. They share the same ground. The networks behind Black philanthropy also link entrepreneurs to customers, advisors and capital. The same digital tools that help a shop get found online also decide who can join a virtual event or read community news. When one is weak, the others feel it.

Digital Equityaccess to modern lifeBlack Philanthropycommunity investment and leadershipSmall Businesslocal enterprise and ownership
Black Philanthropy and Digital Equity: Some people can't get through the digital front door
Digital Equity and Small Business: Businesses that can't be found online
Black Philanthropy and Small Business: Relationship networks work as capital
Where all three meet: where daily life compounds

Where all three meet: where daily life compounds

  1. Digital Equity and Black Philanthropy: Some people can't get through the digital front door
  2. Small Business and Digital Equity: Businesses that can't be found online
  3. Black Philanthropy and Small Business: Relationship networks work as capital
01

Black Philanthropy + Digital Equity

Some people can't get through the digital front door

Black philanthropy means giving time, talent, treasure, testimony and ties. More and more, online platforms are how giving chances, events and community news get shared. When digital access is uneven, joining collective giving and community life can narrow to people with a good device and a steady connection. That can happen even when the wish to give is widespread.

02

Small Business + Digital Equity

Businesses that can't be found online

According to fftc:FWD Folio sources, 90% of jobs in North Carolina now require digital proficiency. For small businesses, the stakes are just as high. A firm with no current online presence may not show up in search results or AI-generated recommendations at all. Digital access and skills are no longer extras. For many shops, they are the storefront.

03

Black Philanthropy + Small Business

Relationship networks work as capital

Black philanthropic practice includes mentorship, collective giving, community organizations and strong relationship networks. These can add to the loans and technical help that small businesses need. Community investment through time, talent, treasure, testimony and ties builds trust. That trust helps owners find customers, advisors and partners, which matters most where formal financing falls short.

How one missing connection leaves a business idea stuck

  1. 01

    An idea with no connection behind it

    A resident with a business idea has no broadband, so reaching customers online is hard.

  2. 02

    Networks fail to connect

    Without digital access, the resident misses virtual events and chances to meet mentors.

  3. 03

    The visibility gap grows

    The business stays off search results, which limits new customers and the income it needs.

  4. 04

    Community investment stalls

    Without thriving local businesses, neighborhoods lose anchors and the giving that grows around them.

Affordable internet, trusted digital help and strong community networks can break this chain at the first link, before one gap becomes three.

By the numbers

  • $1.6M$1.6M infused into Charlotte by the New Generation of African American Philanthropists
  • 14%14% of homes in Mecklenburg County did not have internet access in 2023
  • 54%54% of small business owners in Charlotte-Mecklenburg struggle to identify appropriate funding sources
  • 8,6008,600 households connected to free home-internet services through the City of Charlotte’s “Access Charlotte” initiative

Folio links, articles, and reports

Sources & methodology14 referenced sources

Based on fftc:FWD Folio material for these topics and public data, with broader context on how the issues connect.

AI assists with organizing and explaining selected fftc:FWD source material. It does not replace review by FFTC staff or the judgment of residents and civic partners.