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Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region donors offer help in tough year for nonprofits
10/16/2009

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oct. 16, 2009

For more information, contact:   

Tammy Williams

VP Marketing & Development

(920) 830-1290

twilliams@cffoxvalley.org  

Community Foundation donors offer help in tough year for nonprofits

APPLETON, Wis. – In a year marked by a troubled economy, the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region found new ways to help people support a wide range of charitable organizations in the region, about 200 people were told at the Foundation’s annual Celebration of Community Giving Thursday evening at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center.

“Like everyone else, the Community Foundation experienced a difficult fiscal year in 2008-09,” President/CEO Curt Detjen said. “Our challenge was to find ways – despite the investment losses – to put our available resources to work to help donors meet the needs of area nonprofits, who faced growing demands for their services at the same time that they were seeing reductions in contributions and other income. We accomplished that by doing what we ask other nonprofits to do – forming collaborations and thinking creatively about new ways to do things.”

Board Chair Gregg Curry, managing partner with McCarty Law, said there is plenty to celebrate about community giving, despite the difficult economy. “These challenges also provided new opportunities to spark creative thinking that brought about positive changes focused on the reason we exist: Helping Donors Share,” he said.

He counted among the creative ideas:

•  The Community Foundation’s Survey of Nonprofits and the Economy last November, which raised awareness about the effect the economy was having on charitable organizations.
• The “Open House for Giving Hearts” last Dec. 18, during which 2,365 people gave $972,800 during a 12-hour period in response to $170,000 in matching gifts offered by the Foundation and six funding partners.
•  The new Bridge Grant Program, which will grant out $625,000 to support charitable organizations that had been stable going into the recession and have good prospects of returning to financial health. A volunteer grants committee currently is considering 39 applications from charities seeking help.
•  Revisions to the Foundation’s investment program, made with the assistance of an investment advisor. The new mix of national and local investment managers and the comprehensive investment strategy employed helped during the turbulent downward period and positions the Foundation’s investments well as the economy recovers.  

The Community Foundation also released its annual Community Report (available online at www.cffoxvalley.org), which stated that for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009, the Foundation had:

• Assets under administration of $164 million, down 16.6 percent from 2007-08.
• Grants awarded to more than 920 charitable organizations totaling $14 million, down 6.6 percent from 2007-08.
• Contributions of $17 million, down 36 percent from 2007-08.

 Curry said that while stock market performance played a big role in the decline of assets, the 2008-09 figure also reflects $14 million awarded in grants and $21.7 million dispersed with the closure of two charitable funds dating back to fundraising for construction of the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. The assets in those funds were distributed to the PAC after the boards for both organizations concluded that the center is now well suited to be steward for the funds.

The evening’s program featured participants in the Youth Education in the Arts (YEA) Initiative, a collaboration with three major Fox Valley arts organizations from 2006-09. Its goal was to provide transformational support to improve the lives and prospects of youth in our community and ensure the economic vitality of our region by developing resources to benefit all organizations that offer arts education for youth. It was supported over the three years by a $325,000 grant awarded from the Foundation’s unrestricted funds.

Mark Johannsen, a partner with Grant Thornton who succeeds Curry as board chair, said the Youth Education in the Arts initiative “encouraged arts organizations to look at new ways of doing business, and was a new way of doing business for the Foundation.”

The Foundation selected the Fox Cities PAC, Fox Valley Symphony and Appleton Art Center for the initiative and then worked collaboratively with them to develop their youth education projects and evaluate the results. The Foundation also retained a consultant to develop a research report and handbook of guidelines for measuring the success of youth arts programs. Those two documents and a report to the community on the YEA initiative are available at www.cffoxvalley.org.

The evening also included:

•  Recognition of James Eagon, University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley assistant dean for administrative services, as Community Foundation’s “Volunteer of the Year” for exceptional service on three grantmaking committees.
• Election of new Board of Directors members Keith Depies, Yvette Dunlap, John Hogerty, Steve Hooyman, Derek McDermott and Jeff Werner.
• Election of officers including Johannsen as chair, Joyce Bytof as secretary/vice chair, Mary Kabacinski as treasurer/vice chair and additional vice chairs Gregg Curry, Kathryn Correia, Ray Durkee, Paul Hoffman and Steve Hooyman.

The mission of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region is to strengthen our community for current and future generations by helping people make a difference in the lives of others. Since its founding in 1986, donors to the Community Foundation have enabled it to award more than $125 million in grants to nonprofit organizations from hundreds of charitable funds under its administration. The Foundation is among the largest certified community foundations in Wisconsin. Affiliated community foundations are located in Chilton, Clintonville, Shawano and Waupaca. Go to www.cffoxvalley.org to learn more.

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