Iowa Council of Foundations

Julie Hitchins, Executive Director

Community Foundation of Marshall County

On July 19, 2018 the community of Marshalltown was devastated by an EF3 tornado that plowed through their town.  In the days that followed the tornado, the Community Foundation of Marshall County worked quickly to establish a fund to accept donations to assist the community in the recovery and rebuilding process.  Now, a year later, Julie Hitchins, Executive Director of the Foundation, shares how the Rebuild Marshalltown Fund is helping the community restore itself, and what they have learned as an organization this past year about how to best respond to a disaster in your community.

I joined the Community Foundation of Marshall County almost six months after the tornado.  When I started, the disaster grant making process was in full swing: grant guidelines, grant cycle timelines, application, and the grant agreement were all being developed.   A grant review committee was formed which was made up of nine community members who have grant making experience and/or are associated with another tornado recovery organization.  To best serve our community, we are utilizing a letter of intent process with an invitation to complete a grant application that is concluded with an in-person interview with the grantee organization.

Our first funding cycle concluded on May 2^nd with $100,000 grant awards to the City of Marshalltown for the renovation of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Habitat for Humanity of Iowa for their Marshalltown Hammers Back project.  We are currently in our second funding cycle with grant award announcements planned for September 3^rd.  Following the September grants, we will have one more funding cycle in 2019.

There is a lot to learn as you go through a disaster grant making process.  I’ve compiled a list of what I believe are some of the most important things I’ve learned since beginning this work:

1. Quickly establish a fund: You need to establish your fund quickly after the disaster to capture donors and accept online donations.  We have had over 240 donors from 26 states donate more than $800,000.  Most of the donations were made soon after the tornado, but interestingly two of our largest donations came in the 1^st quarter of 2019.
2. Continue to tell your story: Thanks to an ICoF Idea Implementation Grant we received after last year’s Connect Conference, we were able to engage Wild Key Creative to assist us with fund marketing which included social media templates, a flyer and a marketing plan.  One of our strategies is to continually tell our story.  We have received donations recently due to the fact they heard about the Rebuild Marshalltown Fund on the radio, read it in the newspaper or saw it on social media.
3. Host Foundation expertise: Utilize the expertise at your Host Foundation to assist you on this new journey.  We were very fortunate to have the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines at our side.  They have given great guidance, provided resources and helped us tell our story by including the Rebuild Marshalltown Fund in their annual report.
4. Collaborate: It is extremely important that you communicate (formally in meetings and informally) with tornado recovery organizations to assure there is not duplication of efforts.  It is important to define each funds’ role, collaborate, and update the recovery efforts.  We also structured our grant review committee to include individuals from other organizations engaged in recovery efforts.
5. Marathon: It’s a marathon (maybe a super marathon) not a sprint when it comes to disaster recovery grant making.  The Veterans Memorial Coliseum was “shovel” ready before the tornado and rebuilding is part of Habitat’s mission.  In the second funding cycle we are seeing some requests for repairs, but we know there are many projects that are still in the planning phase and not ready for application.  We believe this fund will exist for up to ten years.
6. Donor Stewardship: One of our marketing strategies was to continue to communicate with donors and share how their donations are helping Marshalltown rebuild.  It is our hope that seeing the grant making results will spur more donations.  Below is an excerpt from the anniversary letter that was mailed to all donors:

“One year later, July 19 at 4:40 p.m., Marshalltown residents gathered in front of the beloved Marshall County Courthouse for the first anniversary of the EF3 tornado that ripped through the heart of our community. We celebrated the miracle that no lives were lost during those frightful 23 minutes. There was silence as we reflected on the events of the past year, followed by the ringing of church bells and the collective cheer, ‘Marshalltown Strong!’”

#MarshalltownStrong

 

Kari McCann Boutell, President

Iowa Council of Foundations

In September, counties participating in the County Endowment Fund Program will receive the annual distribution. 25% will be invested into County Endowment Funds and the remaining 75% will be directed to grantmaking by local affiliate advisory boards. The grantmaking allocation has the potential each year to do so much good in counties across Iowa. As you prepare to allocate those dollars, we wanted to share some resources and tips we have compiled over the years for you to consider.

Guide to Effective Grantmaking: Last year we released this publication which is a compilation of best practices collected from national research, regional community foundation partners and Iowa community foundation leaders. The guide details the Why, What, Who, When and How of grantmaking – specifically designed for County Endowment Fund Program participants. We hope you will take time to review this guide as you refresh the following documents for your grantmaking programs this year:

• Grant Guidelines
• Grant Applications
• Site Visit Protocols
• Scoring Rubrics and Grant Review Process Documents
• Report Forms and Evaluation Processes

Templates and Samples: A reminder that our office has several templates and sample documents that we have collected from other community foundations. Please send us a note if you would like to see samples of how other community foundations are doing their work. There is no sense in reinventing the wheel when there is so much knowledge within our network. If you ask for something that we don’t have, we can send a colleague inquiry to all Iowa community foundations and collect responses on your behalf.

10 Ways to Strategically Invest Your County Endowment Fund Dollars: This webinar recording offers 10 ideas for ways to utilize your CEFP grantmaking dollars for good in your communities. This might be a helpful resource as you prepare to revise your grant guidelines and priorities for the year. Consider how you can use dollars in proactive and responsive ways to support your county’s needs. You might consider using the webinar as a training tool with your committee in advance of your annual grantmaking process. 

As we prepare for the 15th year of the County Endowment Fund Program, we invite you to pause and reflect on the strengths of your local work and acknowledge areas for improvement as we move into this next chapter of the CEFP program!

Charla Schafer, Executive Director, Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine

At our Community Foundation, we have a team of four.  If we were generous enough to hand out staff tenure awards, the lone pinning would be for one year of service.  This leaves us with a bit of void in institutional experience. 

The Iowa Council of Foundations helped us put our “foot on the gas” for team learning.  We were fortunate to receive an ICoF capacity grant in the fall. This professional development funding allowed us to load up the whole crew and trek I-80 to the recent Community Foundations Bootcamp.

The two day training was on-point, covering the full gamut of Community Foundation work: their examples were highly relevant; it was presented in an easily absorbable format, by presenters that spend most of their days running Community Foundations; and  the materials provided quick reference and comfort after we returned to the office.   The information covered both the areas that we arrived hoping to learn more about, and even more critically, the areas that fall into “you don’t know what you don’t know” category.

At each break, members of our team were energetically comparing perspectives and reflecting on insights.  The learning offered breadth and depth.  It was a tremendous learning experience for all! 

We came back to the office and immediately started implementing and evaluating our practices for possible improvements.  In the first week, we began work around an expanded new fund template; incorporated life cycle slides and related organization stats into our upcoming Board meeting to enhance strategic direction; began conversation on scholarship timing to improve student financial aid outcomes; are in discussions to enhance pro-active granting at our advisory committee level; had discussion on identified endowment building opportunities and how they will fit within our marketing  campaign; and the list goes on.  We even left armed with improved terminology and talking points around difficult community issues.  The ultimate winner of our time was our community, as our actions and outcomes will be increasingly efficient and effective.

The only caution I would throw, is to wear pants with elastic. As with most conferences, the food for breakfast, breaks, and lunch was abundant and delicious! 

The ICoF continues to deliver… a true friend to Community Foundations and our community-building work.  If you get a chance to attend the Bootcamp – take it.  Pack bigger pants.  And bring the team. 

Kari McCann Boutell, President

Iowa Council of Foundations

On April 3, we convened the Community Foundations Affiliate Liaisons Network for our spring meeting. This group is comprised of host community foundation staff members who help support affiliates in their region. We discussed successful strategies, tactics and tools for marketing and communications pieces and thought we should share more broadly with the network. Below are the top tips to consider from each of the small group work sessions.

Community Outreach: This small group offered suggestions for ways to bolster a CF’s community outreach efforts and also offered some examples of what has worked at their CFs.

• Consider meeting with your local newspaper and establishing an editorial calendar where you can provide content on a regular basis.
• Consider establishing a fund around a specific community priority which can be responsive to community needs (i.e. childcare).
• Subscribe to newsletters of local community organizations and nonprofits so you know about work going on in your area.

Agency/Nonprofit Funds: This small group shared some ideas around best practices in working with agencies on establishing funds.

• Use clear and simple language when talking with nonprofits about endowment funds—they may not have any prior knowledge of these kinds of tools.
• When providing the agency with materials on how to establish a fund—provide basic information first, and then move to more complicated topics.
• Explain the “Why” to the nonprofit of how they will benefit from establishing an endowment fund and why it is a good long-term planning option.

Individual Donor Development: This small group provided a checklist of items to consider as you build this part of your marketing program.

• Keep your messages simple—make sure the information is accessible to someone who does not yet know about your work.
• Remember, donor development is a marathon, not a sprint. You don’t have to communicate everything in one marketing piece.
• Have host staff write articles for affiliate newsletters to provide expertise on topics – this also helps introduce staff members as resources to the affiliate and potential donors.

Planned Giving: This small group provided a report out on what they’ve found successful in their planned giving marketing.

• Utilize a Legacy Fund Agreement that a donor completes to record their planned giving intentions.
• Honor a special anniversary of your community foundation by asking former and current board members for planned gift commitments in celebration of the milestone.
• Utilize experts for planned giving work by partnering with your host and/or professional advisors.

As always, remember there are countless samples and templates available from your host community foundation and throughout the Iowa Community Foundations Initiative network. Be sure to visit the Knowledge Center on the ICoF website for examples and email us if you would like to see samples of how others are communicating about their work with donors and the broader community. Remember, the goal is that your community foundation is not the best kept secret in town!

Ellen J. Moore, ICoF Administrative and Communications Coordinator

In light of the recent flooding across the state, I wanted to remind you of an important disaster philanthropy resource. The Iowa Community Foundations Initiative Disaster Philanthropy Toolkit was developed in 2018. This is a tool for Community Foundations both prior to, during and following disasters. I’d like to share some of my key learnings which were gleaned throughout the development of the resource.

Disaster Determination. This may seem like an odd place to start, but determining what qualifies as a disaster for your community is an important first step. Our disaster definition is included in the toolkit, but discussion of specific definitions for your organization is most important. It provides common ground for staff to talk about disaster and reminds staff of human-made disaster such as economic failure, terrorism or violence, which may need to be addressed by your community foundation as well.

Preparation. Most of the heavy lifting for disaster relief and recovery efforts can be completed prior to the disaster’s occurrence. Materials such as media releases, funding requests to major donors, draft grant agreements, sample grant applications and internal communications can be developed now, with details added when needed for prompt distribution.

Relief and Recovery Differ. Relief is immediate; actions taken to provide assistance to those who are lacking basic human needs is necessary and important work. However, it is the focus for most regional and national disaster relief organizations (i.e. FEMA, Red Cross etc.). Funding for relief is generally instant and often adequate. On the other hand, recovery efforts are longer-term needs focused on healing and rebuilding. This work often goes unfunded or is underfunded. Media coverage of disaster fades quickly, but the effects of a disaster on a community do not. Focusing philanthropic effort on sustainable, long-term recovery efforts is a critically important role community foundations can fill for their communities.

Communication. Creating a plan for both internal and external communications prior to disaster is one of the most effective ways to streamline relief and recovery efforts. Determining key partners in the community and which staff members will assist the communications/marketing team is important to organize prior to disaster.

Please take time to review the toolkit and consider the role your community foundation can be playing now – in preparation, relief or recovery. The toolkit itself will continue to be updated and adjusted with new knowledge and research moving forward. The resource is available in its most updated form here.