Community Foundation’s redesigned logo and tagline better reflects its powerful impact here
It’s gratifying to see the Community Foundation of North Central Washington, one of the most effective community-enhancing organizations in the region, has updated its logo, upgraded its website and changed the tag line to “Good Grows Here.”
The Community Foundation plays a foundational role in enhancing the work of the nonprofits in our region, encourages people to make meaningful contributions to make our communities more resilient, and manages an extensive scholarship program on behalf of donors that helps kids in our region rise to meet new opportunities in higher education. I cannot think of a more effective community-building endeavor.
Beth Stipe, the executive director (who just had a birthday, by the way), has built a wonderful team of colleagues at the foundation office who are committed to making a difference in the region. Since Stipe took over as executive director in 2003, the assets the foundation manages for nonprofits and individuals has grown from around $13 million to well over $100 million, which is a phenomenal achievement in itself.
The magic of the Community Foundation is the way that the team continues to be dedicated to strengthening the community. Creative giving campaigns, such as Give NCW and Give Methow, have supercharged community philanthropy by making key donations to effective local nonprofits and then encouraging individuals and businesses to add their support to further assist those local organizations.
One of its signature programs is the Nonprofit Practices Institute, which brings together nonprofit leaders and board members every year to learn about best practices in managing and growing these organizations. In doing so, the rising tide of the Community Foundation is floating the boats of nonprofits around the region.
Those campaigns have the additional benefit of democratizing philanthropy by highlighting the importance of many people making modest gifts as opposed to focusing only on people with lots of resources who give large sums of money. This grass-roots ethos has been an important part of fostering a culture of philanthropy in our communities.
The Community Foundation established an Heirloom Society for those community members who want to leave a portion of their resources to the foundation after they die. There is a wonderful group of individuals who have made that commitment as a way of paying it forward.
The Community Foundation continues to adapt and evolve to meet the changing needs of our communities.
The redeveloped website makes it easy to make contributions, create a Donor Advised Fund to manage your contributions in the community, become a Partner In Giving to help the foundation grow its unrestricted fund that allows it to meet emerging needs more effectively, and offers a host of tools to better understand the art and practice of making contributions to enhance the community.
I see the work of the foundation as an antidote to the cynicism and selfishness that we see playing out in the political sphere of this country. The organization, by highlighting the successes of nonprofits that are helping those who struggle, gives us all reasons for hope and confidence in each other.
As individuals, we could make a conscious choice every day to pay attention to these powerful stories of contribution and spend less time marinating in the hate and vitriol in the national news media and social media platforms.
It seems to me that we would be a lot happier and more content if we followed the lead of the Community Foundation and kept our minds and hearts focused on finding ways, small or significant, to help those around us.
To check out the new look and consider becoming a part of the growing number of individuals who are working to make our communities better by getting involved with the Community Foundation of North Central Washington, access cfncw.org.
