May 27, 2012

A Community Nonprofit Fights to Raise Its Profile to Win New Supporters

By Debra E. Blum

Heritage Community Initiatives, a nonprofit outside Pittsburgh that nearly folded, faces lots of hurdles when it comes to raising money from affluent people. Perhaps the toughest: unfamiliarity.

When the charity asked a potential supporter from a neighboring city to tour its facilities, the man had no idea how to get there.

“I live eight or nine miles from Braddock,” says Erik Sobkiewicz, a Pittsburgh lawyer from a town just up the river from the social-service