Organization matches nonprofits with donors
When Southside School faced cutbacks in 2004, there wasn’t a lot
to do about it. Fortunately Southside has something more valuable
than state funds: an active parents club that contributes to the
school by working with the teachers and principal/superintendent
Eric Johnson.
Organization matches nonprofits with donors
When Southside School faced cutbacks in 2004, there wasn’t a lot to do about it. Fortunately Southside has something more valuable than state funds: an active parents club that contributes to the school by working with the teachers and principal/superintendent Eric Johnson.
The parents focused on supporting programs that otherwise would have been scuttled.
Parents Kathy Tiffany and Allison Rohnert worked together to create the Southside School Endowment Fund. Endowment funds are nothing new to Tiffany. Her husband, Bob, sits on the board of the Community Foundation for San Benito County, which administers the largest endowment fund in the county.
The school endowment was started in May 2004 and since that time Southside School has raised enough money to purchase a computer server for the teachers at Southside and now operates an up-to-date computer lab with 30 stations. The school now has a program to improve computer skills. The school also hired a music teacher to come for instruction once per week.
“Because of budget cuts anything extra [like music] just wasn’t feasible,” Tiffany said. “Opening the endowment has helped tremendously.”
Endowments are funds in which the principal is kept in perpetuity to provide funds from the interest for local charitable causes. So the starting amount can never be touched and organizations benefit from the interest derived from the account.
Southside School’s endowment was facilitated through the Community Foundation for San Benito County. The Community Foundation works as a go-between between philanthropists and needy causes, but it’s more than that.
The Community Foundation for San Benito County was formed in 1992, but the foundation really got off the ground in 2001 with the start of a permanent endowment, according to Executive Director Gary Byrne. Since 1992 the foundation has donated more than $600,000 a year to a variety of local causes. The common factor in each instance is funds were granted to benefit the people of San Benito County.
When the Hollister Tremors Youth Soccer league needed a new playing field at Veterans Memorial Park they didn’t have to look for assistance – it was looking for them. Since then four soccer fields have been donated to the soccer league.
The Community Foundation endowment fund has, during the past three years, grown to more than $2 million. They currently have 46 organizations they fund. Many nonprofit organizations in San Benito County have endowment funds administered by the foundation. Some of these organizations include Pet Friends, Girl Scouts, YMCA, Emmaus House, Baler Education, Friends of the Library, Sacred Heart Parish School Foundation, Friends of Southside School and the Hollister Tremors Youth Soccer league.
The endowments consist of an accumulation of gifts that are invested today for the income and growth, ensuring financial strength and security for tomorrow, Byrne said.
The foundation also lends its investment expertise to $150,000 worth of non-endowed funds.
Community foundations are not a new concept and have been in place for many years. The Community Foundation for Monterey County is more than 60 years old and has given out more than $61 million during that time. This year alone the organization has given away more than $6.5 million in grants and is currently managing $120 million in assets.
Monterey Community Foundation now has 21 full-time employees and manages around 70 endowment funds. It facilitates arts and literacy campaigns and even has a management assistance program to create leaders for non-profit organizations.
“Endowment funds are very important to ensuring that we can provide for the community forever,” said Judy Sulsona, the Monterey foundation’s executive vice-president. “It’s an easy way to ensure sustainability.”
So with a little imagination it’s not hard to envision where San Benito’s foundation could be in a few years.
Communities without foundations are at a tremendous disadvantage because charitable donations are more likely to leave the community, Byrne said.
“When there is no community foundation, 80 percent of charitable giving goes outside of the community,” Byrne said. “Our goal is to keep charitable giving local. We don’t compete with non-profits. Instead we try to help them grow.”
The Young Men’s and Women’s Club of America (YMCA) San Benito Chapter has received benefits both directly and indirectly from the foundation, according to YMCA Executive Director Lou Bettencourt.
Through grants and financing the YMCA has been able to use the money received from the community foundation to expand services. Today, the local Y has its own endowment fund.
“It’s been a wonderful opportunity to add to the revenue stream for continued operations,” Bettencourt said. “With the YMCA Foundation donors help the YMCA over the long term. Our ability to reach out and do other things is incredible. We don’t have to worry about marginal programming because we have the ability to do more.”
There may come a time when Southside School’s endowment reaches a point that will mean the end of bake sales. Instead, the school will be able to tap an endowment born in 2004.
“Eventually we won’t have to fundraise and that will be great,” Tiffany said. “So far things have worked out really well, but the fund is still young. It will be a long time before we’re there.”
Patrick O’Donnell can be reached at
po*******@pi**********.com
.
