Moments in Philanthropy :: June 2009
In This Issue
What a Difference a Year Makes – Lussier CEC 30th Anniversary
Not Your Traditional Library – Cross Plains as Eco-Center
Dane County Food Pantry Gardens Flourishing
MCF in Madison, Dane County, and Beyond
Community Foundations Fare Relatively Well During Recession
What a Difference a Year Makes – Lussier CEC 30th Anniversary
2009 ushered in a year of change and celebration for the Lussier Community Education Center. Last fall, supported in part by a $250,000 grant from Madison Community Foundation, Madison’s former Wexford Ridge Neighborhood Center changed its name and moved from three cramped apartment spaces into a cohesive, sparkling new facility on the grounds of Jefferson Middle and Memorial High Schools.
While numbers don't tell the whole story, they do give a snapshot of an incredible growth spurt. Well over twice as many children and youth participated in LCEC programs in the first three months of 2009 as compared to the same period in 2008. Adult participation in programs at the LCEC increased by 200%. While the center offered and hosted just over 600 hours of programming in the first three months of 2008, in 2009 they topped 2000 hours of programming in the same time period.
“2009 marks our 30th year of providing needed resources to our community,’” says Paul Terranova, Lussier CEC Director. “The growth we have experienced in the last 12 months has only been possible with the beautiful new space and a supportive community. We look forward to bright and productive 30 years to come.”
More information on Lussier CEC’s facility and programs can be found here: http://lcecmadison.org/.
Not Your Traditional Library – Cross Plains as Eco-Center
As Director of the state’s first LEED-certified library, Pam Bosben of Rosemary Garfoot Public Library in Cross Plains jumped at the chance to create a broader collection of materials focusing on ecology and environmental awareness. Using the $27,500 provided by the MCF Collection Grant Project, Pam and her staff purchased a variety of materials to build one of the best environmental information collections in the state. The materials were immediately leveraged to attract over $4,000 in additional funds from within the community.
Library staff finds that the materials are hard to keep on the shelves. Children’s books about recycling, global warming and endangered species receive the most use, especially "The Nature Connection with David Suzuki" DVD series for children. For adults, titles pertinent to alternative energy, "green" building and global warming seem to be the hot topics. The films "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Who Killed the Electric Car” enjoy heavy circulation.
A variety of specialized programming and initiatives were created as a result of the collection:
- Ongoing Tuesday evening “Eco-Talk” book discussion group
- Eco tips, quizzes, resources and information are published in local monthly newsletters
- The library is an e-waste repository for CD’s, DVDs and cases as a special fundraiser
- Programs developed for kids - subjects vary from wildlife ecology to recycling
- Library Director was invited to serve on the Board of the Black Earth Creek Watershed Association (BECWA), and the library houses BECWA archives
- Middleton-Cross Plains High School students designed and installed a native plant bed
- EnAct and Natural Step study programs begun in the area
Eco-awareness has definitely become a community quest. The library staff created partnership programming with Aldo Leopold Center in nearby Black Earth, and the Ice Age Trail headquarters recently established in Cross Plains. A local café, Crossroads Coffeehouse, hosts “Green Drinks” on the last Thursday of every month, giving environmentally savvy networkers a salon-like atmosphere to mix with like-minded people.
"People are hungry to learn how to create a sustainable community," says Mary Devitt, owner of the Crossroads. “The library is the perfect hub from which to explore, and we are so fortunate to have this extended collection in our community.”
Rosemary Garfoot Library website: http://www.scls.lib.wi.us/csp/
Dane County Food Pantry Gardens Flourishing
In 2008 MCF provided Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, Inc. with a multi-year grant of $300,000 to increase and ensure community and food pantry gardens in Dane County. Chris Brockel, Manager of Food and Gardens at CAC, is amazed at how quickly the gardens have “germinated.”
“Last year I was wondering if there was enough interest to create up to five new community gardens and five food pantry gardens,”. “We are now experiencing a perfect storm,” said Chris. “The Grow Local initiative, the sustainability movement and the economy have created an unprecedented demand. We have ten new gardens being generated right now. Five of those new gardens will supply food pantries. For the first time ever, we have a waiting list for every community garden we administer in the county.”
Current community and pantry garden highlights:
- The 400’ square food pantry garden being created in Fraust Park behind the new St Vincent De Paul facility in the town of Madison has leveraged an even larger space. Volunteers from Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Madison have committed to growing one and a half acres of squash that will be donated to the St Vincent food pantry.
- A private property owner next to the Blackhawk Church on Mineral Point Road donated a long term lease for a new 1.8 acre food pantry garden. A shed for supplies has been built, water accessed, and seeds and plants donated by local businesses, including the Middleton High School greenhouse. All produce will be donated to local food pantries.
- After experiencing resistance to the original location choice, the Middleton Community Garden was offered a temporary home including water access in the Airport Road Business Park by the Blettner Group. Thirty-five plots were developed within three weeks and there is currently a waiting list. Although this is technically a community garden, plot contracts ask that all excess produce be donated to local pantries.
Join Mayor Dave Cieslewicz on a bike tour of various Madison Community Gardens on the Fifth Annual Community Garden Bike ride, scheduled for August 29, 2009.
For more information on the bike ride or Dane County community gardens, visit: http://www.cacscw.org/gardens/.
MCF in Madison, Dane County, and Beyond
The Madison Community Foundation focus is to serve all of Dane County. Many of our donors call Dane County home, and MCF unrestricted funds support projects via grants in communities county-wide. We are also proud of the fact that donors living outside of our county choose to use our services for a variety of reasons.
Madison Community Foundation currently manages over 860 funds. 21% of those funds are advised by individuals or organizations located in over 50 different communities outside of Madison. The reason most often given for the choice to use MCF is the discreet and thorough service provided by an attentive, highly professional staff. MCF can also provide anonymity for those donors who wish to support their communities without being recognized publicly.
Marketing guidance is available for campaigns of any kind. Services available for funds include ability to receive a wide array of assets, electronic funds transfer, complete donor receipt processing and report generation for fund advisors. Funds associated with MCF avoid duplicate administrative costs, and fundholders are assured of up to the minute compliance with all federal and state regulations.
Diligence and attention are given to managing the investment of charitable assets, which have grown to over $100 million. An investment committee which consists of knowledgeable volunteers and board members works closely with investment partners to manage both a diversified investment portfolio and a socially responsive portfolio. Commonfund, the only nonprofit investment management firm in the country, administers the diversified portfolio. They oversee more than $40 billion in assets for colleges, universities, foundations and charitable organizations. Walden Asset Management has been a leader in socially responsive investing since 1975. Administrative fees are 1% of the value of a fund, and those who have endowment funds at MCF may also take advantage of passthrough funds at no charge.
To find out more about fundholder services at MCF, contact Amy Overby, Vice President, Donor Relations, Bob Sorge, Vice President of Strategic Development, or call(608) 232-1763.
Community Foundations Fare Relatively Well During Recession, Report Says
Chronicle of Philanthropy
By Caroline Preston
May 28, 2009 - Community foundations increased their giving in 2008, bucking the belt tightening that swept nearly all quarters of the philanthropic world, according to a new report by the Foundation Center.
More than 700 community foundations gave $4.6-billion last year, a 2.7 percent increase when adjusted for inflation. The increase outpaced the rate of growth reported by independent and corporate foundations and, for the first time on record, community foundations gave more money than corporate grant makers, the report said.
But with the country mired in the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, community foundations probably will not be able to maintain their level of generosity this year, according to the study. Nearly three-quarters of foundations surveyed said they anticipated giving less in 2009. Still, community foundations are better positioned than some grant makers. A flurry of new donors and bequests, as well as strong increases in their asset values, have buoyed community foundations in recent years, according to the report.
What’s more, the sour economy may cause some philanthropists to scrap plans to set up separate, endowed institutions, which are expensive to operate, and instead create donor-advised funds with community foundations, the report said.
The grant-making clout of community foundations exceeds their number, the study found. Community foundations accounted for 1 percent of the total number of grant makers in 2007, according to the report, but their giving made up 10 percent of all foundation grant dollars.
Like other types of foundations, they were more likely to support groups that help children and poor people than charities working in other fields. Community foundations were more inclined, meanwhile, to provide general support than were other types of grant makers, the report said.
A free copy of the report can be downloaded from http://foundationcenter.org/media/.
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Madison Community Foundation exists to encourage, facilitate and manage long-term philanthropy. More information about programs and opportunities to become part of this philanthropic family are on the foundation’s Web site at www.madisoncommunityfoundation.org.