Jennifer Garst, Executive Director of the Story County Community Foundation
Story County Community Foundation (SCCF) received an $8,500 ICoF Capacity Building Grant in June 2015. This capacity grant, and others received previously, have been critical to our organization’s success to transition from a volunteer organization to being able to have paid professional staff. Our 2015 capacity grant was especially helpful as we worked with our host foundation to transition our professional staff from independent contractors to employees. This change helps SCCF build our reputation as a professional and well-run organization in our county.
Below are highlights from 2015:
- Gifts exceeded $2.1 million in 2015 more than doubling the organization’s goal for the year and marking an 86% increase from 2014
- Over 400 individual donors to SCCF funds
- 19 new funds
- SCCF’s 125 funds now total $8.9 million in assets
As we know, success does not come without a roadmap on how to get there. Annually SCCF creates detailed work plans that set goals as wells as specific strategies to reach those goals that are reasonable, measurable and for which all involved (staff and board) are held accountable. The simple recipe for our success is that we create a sound plan and commit to “working the plan” throughout the year.
The lesson I continue to learn every day is the power of people who “love their community.” SCCF is fortunate to have two-part time employees who are able to work with Story County donors that have a passion for an organization or cause. By working with people who “love their community” we can assist them in making a long-term commitment of support through an endowment for the causes they care about.
