“A Jewel in Your Midst” Community Foundation of Boone County

(Bill Somerville gave the following presentation at the Community Foundation donor reception on July 28, 2003 at the Flower Barn in Lebanon.)

My friends, you have a jewel in your midst. It is the Community Foundation of Boone County.

First of all, community foundations are the fastest growing segment of philanthropy in America. What is interesting is that the community foundation concept is being copied in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe because it is such a good idea.

Synergy is where 2 plus 2 equals 5. In other words, we can do more with our money if we join forces at a community foundation that if we go it alone.

Your community foundation can customize a giving program for you. Let me give you an example. An elderly woman, one of the owners of Levi’s said to me, “Bill, I think low-income women should have a day off. I mean they should leave the house and go to the beach.” That’s all she said and we developed for her “The Day Off Program,” wherein professionals in the community, a priest, minister, school principal, social worker, could nominate a woman for a $200 grant to have her hair done, fingernails manicured, go to a museum, go on a retreat, whatever.

We make the check payable to the nominator who makes sure the money is spent for the day off.

We announced the program on television, sent notices to professionals and organizations. The program has been a success and so far the donor has given $150,000 to her idea.

Now, let’s look at this for a second. What’s the value of a day off? Some professionals told us that all they have to work with is body, mind, and spirit, and they say without spirit they get nowhere with low-income people. We were focusing on spirit with this program.

We didn’t worry about being swamped with requests. We got a lot of requests but so what. That’s what the community foundation is here for.

We designed a viable way of giving the money that gave assurance it was spent as agreed.

We were reaching people who are rarely sought after as individuals. One woman wrote us, “Thank you, this is the first time anyone has given me anything.” Have you read “Nickeled & Dimed” about people in this country trying to live on minimum wage?” That’s who we were reaching.

A day off doesn’t solve poverty. We didn’t make that claim but it does recognize humanity and the ability to raise ones spirit, as well as give a new tool to professionals to work with people who have hit bottom.

The day off idea is just one tiny example of what a community foundation can do. One of the most exciting things for a donor to do is causative philanthropy where you take the initiative and cause something to happen as just illustrated.

The Community Foundation of Boone County has a wonderful scholarship program giving support to bright, young, promising people. But maybe one of you wants to reach out to another population. How about people who want to enter the trades, a carpenter, welder, cosmetologist, or car mechanic? We can’t do without them in our society.

Why not try tool scholarships wherein when the person graduates from school the scholarship will help buy the tools that are required to get a job.

Or, how about the woman who dropped out of school to start a family and now wants to go back? This is called a re-entry scholarship and these woman are usually straight A students when they return to school.

Another idea is to cancel education loans, huge loans students are required to have. This is a loan cancellation scholarship.

All of this is to illustrate the versatility your community foundation has. As donors, you need to know that there are wonderful opportunities for you to explore in your giving. With your giving you should be having fun (meaning, satisfaction), and significance (meaning, impact). But just what is impact? I have given a lot of thought to this.

Impact is the reaching out in a new creative way to address social problems. An example would be teaching dance for low-income girls because we know that girls who feel good about themselves know how to say ‘no’.

Impact is involving new population groups in your work. Dance companies usually serve well off parents and their children. Would they be willing to include children from other economic groups, a new population group? This could be made possible by scholarship money from the foundation.

Impact is most likely to come about when there is trust between the funder and the grantee. Trust is a wonderful lubricant that makes things possible.

Impact is when money is given on a timely basis – when it is needed. Why not give grants on a 48 hour turn around schedule? You need trust to do it and it is highly appreciated.

Impact is when we can exit from the concept of problem solving and depend more on creative/original thinking. Our job in philanthropy is to get people to think of ideas of what they want to have happen and how to bring change about.

Impact is present more when people are willing to venture, to take risks, even to suffer failure. Bill Hewlett would say to his engineers that they weren’t doing their jobs unless they had some failures. The philanthropic dollar is made to order to take risks on ideas that make our community better.

I have been to 265 community foundations and from what I have seen of your community foundation, I’d put my dollar there. It is well run with a capable staff and a thoughtful Board. It is well positioned to serve you as a donor. Moreover, it is a jewel in your midst.

-Bill Somerville

Additional Information and Assistance:

The Community Foundation of Boone County
PO Box 92
Zionsville Indiana 46077

Voice: 317-873-0210 or 765-482-0024
FAX: 317-873-0219
Email: cfbc@in-motion.net

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