Slingshot Memphis

Fighting poverty. Accelerating impact. — bringing investment-grade rigor to the Memphis poverty fight.

Slingshot Memphis is a nonprofit founded in 2016 that treats the fight against poverty the way a serious investor treats capital: measure what works, strengthen it, and move more resources toward it. Poverty-fighting organizations struggle to measure their impact; philanthropists struggle to know which efforts actually change lives. Slingshot closes that gap — running rigorous impact studies of Memphis nonprofits, providing technical assistance to make good programs better, and directing philanthropic dollars through its Accelerate Impact Fund, where 100% of every investment goes straight to vetted poverty-fighting organizations because Principal Investors cover all operating costs. Led by CEO Jared Barnett.

What Slingshot Does

Impact Measurement

Rigorous, investment-style evaluations of poverty-fighting organizations — benefit-cost ratio, systems change, best practices, and measurement infrastructure.

Technical Assistance

Hands-on program evaluation, project management, and improvement support for direct service providers — nonprofits, schools, and healthcare organizations.

Accelerate Impact Fund

100% of every dollar invested goes directly to vetted, high-impact poverty-fighting organizations — operating costs are covered separately by Principal Investors.

Poverty-Fighting Insights

Quarterly reports, research, workshops, and trainings that translate data into action for philanthropists, government, and community decision-makers.

Advising Decision-Makers

Helping investors, foundations, and public officials make evidence-based decisions — so Memphis money fights Memphis poverty as hard as it can.

Strengthening the Ecosystem

Working alongside partners like MDRC on workforce initiatives such as MemWorks — raising the effectiveness of the whole poverty-fighting ecosystem.

Why Rigor Matters in the Poverty Fight

Memphis has one of the highest poverty rates of any large American metro — and generations of goodwill haven't moved the number enough. Slingshot's answer isn't more charity; it's better evidence. By measuring which programs actually lift families — and helping those programs get stronger — Slingshot makes every philanthropic dollar work harder. That's the same discipline unions bring to a contract fight: don't guess, count. Facts move outcomes.

A Community Partner of Labor Education

Labor and Slingshot are attacking the same enemy from two sides. Unions fight poverty at the paycheck — wages, benefits, and job security won at the bargaining table. Slingshot fights it in the ecosystem — making sure the programs serving working families between jobs, after layoffs, and in crisis are the most effective they can be. Labor Education is proud to feature Slingshot Memphis as a community partner: when workers' dollars and philanthropists' dollars both flow to what works, Memphis families win.

Connect with Slingshot Memphis

Want to get involved, partner, or learn more? Reach out through their website.