Pictured: The Selby Foundation funds vital capital improvements such as lighting for the Senior Friendship Center’s downtown Sarasota campus, ensuring that seniors can access education, health-affirming programs, and vital social connections. Provided p

My eighth-grade science teacher always told us that science develops out of need. Many years later, I remember this. It gives me hope when I think about a challenge and the possibility of innovation.

Our local charitable sector feels a heavy weight in the air today with the very real possibility that potential changes in government funding will impact human need, parks, libraries, and essential services.

What are the conditions needed for people to have access to opportunity, to feel safe, and to receive help during times of challenge? These are the things most of us care about. These are also the things many nonprofits strive to create. What happens when there are reduced dollars for public benefit?

I join my colleagues at other foundations in being a passionate advocate for the difference philanthropy makes. I also believe philanthropy is not the answer for everything. There is not enough private giving to solve all challenges or to realize all opportunities, nor should the decisions about what matters be in the hands of a few. This is hardly my unique notion. But the message is important during this juncture. We are standing at the crossroads of need and opportunity.

Talking to nonprofit executives and board members about their strategies to prepare for potential changes, I hear a range of answers. Many spend intentional time together focused on the big possibilities because they stimulate meaningful and important scenario planning. Their insights and thoughtfulness are inspiring. Nonprofit organizations are adept at innovating, because they often have to do it.

I have seen transformative conversations come together just by having people in a room who listen to each other’s concerns. “People power” carried the ideas they discussed into action and innovation, but communities do need money for ideas to work. From paving a safe parking lot in a parenting education center to helping a student born into generational poverty attain a college degree without debt, everything costs something.

High prices for groceries, gas, and housing are mere conversation points and inconveniences for some people. For others, they mean cutting back until there is nothing left to cut, even while they work multiple jobs and their high school senior works 35 hours a week while attending classes.

Leading the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation, I experience the stewardship of our own board of directors in allocating dollars to make the most meaningful impact we can as we award grants and scholarships. Like all sources of funds, they are not exhaustive.

Knowing that capital items are often the hardest to raise money for, and knowing they will always be needed by nonprofits, the Selby Foundation will continue to make these investments. In recent years, organizations have made great strides in efficiency and program innovations with technology funds we have awarded. It’s worth stating definitively: critical programs and services are possible when they have the capital assets needed to power them. Funds are also needed for the people who do the essential work.

Going forward, our hypothesis is that embracing new ways of doing the work may be more necessary than ever to ensure that our community and the people in it are supported. Innovation and new ideas will develop, and they will be most useful when the conversations include the voices of people most impacted by changes. The Selby Foundation is proud to continue as just one participant in shaping the well-being of our communities in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties. We have a common responsibility to be well-informed, connected, and forward-thinking. Let’s all gather the tools we have to get started.

Susie Bowie is the President and CEO of The William G. and Marie Selby Foundation.

Pictured: The Selby Foundation funds vital capital improvements such as lighting for the Senior Friendship Center’s downtown Sarasota campus, ensuring that seniors can access education, health-affirming programs, and vital social connections. Provided p