During the week of Nov. 12-18, the Community Foundation of Greene County will join more than 700 community foundations across America in celebrating Community Foundation Week. For 26 years, this effort has raised awareness about the important role these philanthropic organizations have in fostering local collaboration to address persistent civic and economic challenges.
Community Foundation Week, created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush, recognizes the important work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative and innovative approach to working with the public, private and nonprofit sectors to address community problems.
According to the Council on Foundations, a nonprofit leadership association of grantmaking foundations and corporation, community foundations are independent, public entities that are the heart of strong, vibrant communities.
The Community Foundation of Greene County (CFGC) is set up “by the community, for the community,” according to executive director Bettie Stammerjohn. CFGC – which was founded and achieved corporate status in December of 2000 and gained nonprofit status in 2001 – serves the present needs of Greene County and anticipates future needs by raising community capital.
The money donors provide to CFGC is invested and grown, and a portion of the resulting income goes out to support community needs.
“You set up a fund, or you give money to a fund, and you can say where you want that [donation] to go,” said Stammerjohn. “You get to choose what need in the community you want to address.”
CFGC has accumulated nearly $4 million total in assets – most having been endowments – since its founding, and more than $2 million has gone back out into the community.
“I think that’s pretty good for our size, to have done that,” said Stammerjohn.
CFGC uses its plentiful resources to address many of the current needs in Greene County, from child hunger and food security to educational scholarships. Stammerjohn hopes that CFGC will continue to grow and be even more impactful in addressing the needs of the community.
“We really want to raise the bar, and get up there in the tens of millions of dollars,” said Stammerjohn. “The more money we raise, the more there is to give back to the community.”
According to the Foundation Center, in 2012 community foundations received an estimated $7.5 billion in gifts, gave $5 billion in grants and held total assets of $65 billion. The Foundation Center also reports that even though community foundations represent just one percent of the more than 82,000 foundations in the United States, their gifts represented nine percent of total giving.
Though the first community foundation was launched just over 100 years ago in Ohio, there are more than 750 community foundations in the United States today and the community foundation field is one of the fastest growing philanthropic sectors in the United States today.
CFGC is one of only 500 foundations in the U.S. that have been confirmed in compliance with the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations, which Stammerjohn calls the “seal of approval” among community foundations.
For more information about CFGC or the work of community foundations, contact Stammerjohn at 724-627-2010 or cfgcpa@gmail.com.
The Community Foundation of Greene County partners with local organizations to address current and emerging community needs through leadership and philanthropy. The mission is to “strengthen Greene County by building charitable endowments, maximizing benefits to donors, making effective grants and providing leadership to address community needs.”