The Community Foundation of the Ozarks

A date for the 2009 Youth Philanthropy Conference has been set. The event will take place on Thursday, October 15, 2009. For the second year in a row, the event will take place on the Drury University campus in Springfield.

Further details will be forthcoming. Please mark your calendars and plan on attending! Last year we hosted over 200 students and sponsors from 31 schools in the Ozarks region. This conference is a great opportunity for students and sponsors to share ideas and thoughts on creating, sustaining, and strengthening youth empowerment projects. Read about last year’s Youth Philanthropy Conference.

Tom's of Maine, "50 States for Good" Initiative Offers Program Funding for Nonprofits

With a total community action fund of $100,000, Tom's of Maine's "50 States for Good" initiative is celebrating and rewarding nonprofits from across the country whose efforts are focused on lasting, positive change in the community.

Tom's of Maine is hoping to inspire participation from nonprofits of all sizes and is excited to hear about the community projects that matter most to them.

Downtown Chandler plans to have a bang-up Mardi Gras celebration in February, one that will draw celebrants from across metro Phoenix.

The party was announced Thursday at the annual meeting of the Downtown Chandler Community Partnership held at the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Golf Resort.

Also announced at the meeting was the formation of the Downtown Chandler Community Foundation to raise funds and provide grants to non-profits for projects that will benefit downtown.

A foundation membership drive has begun. The first deadline for grant applications is Sept. 15. An application will be on the DCCP Web site Aug. 1. Grants will be given out in amounts up to $2,000.

The surveys reveal a relatively split foundation community on whether a recession means that foundations should hunker down on existing missions or rethink purpose. A debate in a Council on Foundations newsletter between Karl Stauber of the Danville Regional Foundation and Emmett Carson of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation summarized the merits and liabilities of revising foundation mission during a down period. Stauber argued for continuity and suggested that foundations “must have the courage and will to balance the short-term charity needs with the long-term philanthropic opportunities.” Carson, on the other hand, argued for change, saying, “Each foundation has an obligation to consider whether, and how, to respond to this crisis.”

Both Stauber and Carson lead community foundations whose discretionary grant pools may have more room to consider these questions than at private foundations whose restrictions are tied to their endowments.

As a companion list to The Best Sites For K-12 Beginning English Language Learners, I thought I’d put together a short list of my similar choices for Intermediate English Language Learners. I’ll also be creating lists focusing on older ELL’s, too.

I thought that lists like these might make it a little easier for teachers, particularly newer ones — newer to teaching or newer to using technology in their teaching. Then, at their leisure, they can explore all the other more specialized “The Best…” lists.

The Everyday Life Project is number two. It’s sponsored by the Goodwill Community Foundation in North Carolina, and it has extraordinary interactive exercises for Intermediate and Advanced English Language Learners. Its activities on food, money, work, shopping and maps are excellent.

Reversing the blight has been a mission of the Hill Youth Action Team (HYAT) since the summer of 2006 when they scanned 40 local properties for abandoned houses, litter and vacant lots on the streets where they live. Their banner message “Save Our Society” still hangs over Howard Avenue and Minor Streets to remind everyone to get involved.

Donors to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven provided funding for the project (more…)

I just read an article about the Silicon Valley Community Foundation establishing the "Strengthen the Safety Net" fund to assist non profits that provide food and shelter in the San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. These organizations are seeing a dramatic rise in families needing their services due to the economic crisis. As a result the foundation is using this fund to challenge individuals and corporations to donate money; the foundation will match dollar for dollar up to $1 million through the end of this year. Now that's creative philanthropy in a time of crisis.

New Voices Of Philanthropy: Desperate times call for creative measures.

A local family is hoping that their tragedy can help save the lives of others.

That’s why the Joyce, Kylie and Olivia Bunn Fire Safety Fund has been started at the Fremont Area Community Foundation (NE).

(more…)

The James Irvine Foundation today released a pathbreaking new report detailing best practices for increasing voter turnout in low-income and ethnic communities. The research documented in the report indicates that rather than the more-typical mailers and prerecorded phone calls, quality personal contact is the key to reaching these underrepresented groups. (more…)

BY JULIA EAST President and CEO Southwest Florida Community Foundation

This article about community leadership is the third in a five-part series on the gift of leadership.

The term community has a variety of meanings, but it has historically meant the bonds between those who live and work together. Community has many levels. (more…)