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Community Foundation Board and Staff
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Board of Directors
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Jim Allhusen
Chairman
Sandra Benson
Geoff Block
Yvonne Curl Arno Dimmling Linda Fiore Sheila Mahony
Michael J. Marks
Paul Moeri Al PanuShirley Peterson
David Rosenblum
Allen Ward
David Wetmore
Michelle Wycoff
Staff
Jackie Rosswurm
Interim President and CEO
VP for Community Investment
VP for Finance and Administration
Program Associate
VP for Marketing and Communications
Finance Associate
Communications Specialist
VP for Development and Donor Services
Executive
Administrative Assistant
Donor Services Associate
Program Associate
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Special Edition August 2020
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Important Information about Community Investment Programs
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| | Debbie Cahoon, Vice President for Community Investment |
Like many of you, we closed our doors in March in response to Governor McMaster's Work or Stay Home Order. Our Community Foundation staff returned in mid-June, but the office remains closed to outside visitors. While away, and upon our return to the office, the Community Investment office has been incredibly busy!
The goal of this special edition of Nonprofit Connections is to inform you of new programs from which you may benefit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Information is also provided about changes to current programs as a result of Community Foundation of the Lowcountry's newly adopted strategic plan. This information is time sensitive! We encourage you to take a few moments to review the information to see how it may be relevant to you.
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After 25 years of successful grantmaking, and as we approached fiscal year 2021, our Board of Directors and our Grants Advisory Committee looked at ways to improve our processes. The goal was to keep the best and to redesign what no longer made sense. Changes include:
- Our grant cycle has been redefined. We will accept applications two times per year (instead of three) with deadline dates of October 1 and April 1. With a June 30 fiscal year end date, we determined that the May application deadline/July decision was an albatross.
- We're putting a greater focus on community impact. Most of our criteria is the same, but our application is centered on project and organization impact. Our committees will look at how you are moving the needle in your particular impact area.
- Given recent market volatility, and the unknown long term effects of COVID-19, we are suspending multi-year projects at this time.
- As we look at ways our funding directly impacts the Lowcountry community, we are currently not accepting applications for staff positions.
- Considering issues that our communities face, there will be a preference for projects or programs that support marginalized members of the communities we serve.
- We will require a social justice statement from each organization that applies for a grant.
These larger grants continue to be geographically restricted to organizations that serve those who live and/or work in Southern Beaufort County.
Opportunity Grants
Opportunity Grants continue to mirror our (larger) competitive grants, with the same focus on impact. These grants are available to organizations that serve people in Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton or Jasper County.
Organization Development Grants
There are no substantial changes to Organization Development Grants. We continue to offer these capacity building grants to pay up to $5,000 for the use of a consultant to increase agency sustainability. These grants are available to organizations that serve people in Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton or Jasper County.
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Impact Information Sessions
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Lowcountry Community COVID-19 Response Fund Grants
As reported in the March edition of Nonprofit Connections, Community Foundation of the Lowcountry created a fund to respond to agencies meeting the immediate needs of community members who were facing food, housing or medical insecurities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We matched the first $200,000 of gifts into the fund. With combined gifts of over $543,000 to-date, our committee was able to rapidly deploy grants in excess of $475,000 to agencies throughout our Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper County service area. As we move closer to the beginning of the 2020-21 academic year, our committee has decided to add education as a funding area to benefit children who have increased educational needs relating to COVID-19. To allow adequate time for agencies to assess their needs and to complete an application, our next Lowcountry Community COVID-19 Response Fund application deadline date is September 8, 2020.
Hilton Head Island COVID-19 Fund
In partnership with the Town of Hilton Head Island, Community Foundation of the Lowcountry created the Hilton Head Island COVID-19 Fund to distribute HUD grants to organizations that provide services to citizens impacted by COVID-19. Organizations must be a 501(c)3 nonprofit, providing services within the Town of Hilton Head Island, to low- and moderate-income citizens of the Town. The maximum amount per grant is $25,000, and the organization must be able to verify that the majority of the population they serve is low to moderate income, based on HUD specifications. Grant projects or programs must be in alignment with HUD criteria. The first grant deadline date is tentatively set for September 15, 2020.
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We're very proud of the impact The Giving Marketplace has had on the Lowcountry community. This GuideStar product has given nonprofit organizations, regardless of their size and/or scope, the ability to showcase their history, impact, needs, goals and programs to donors, volunteers and funders. The hard work put into creating the profile had two-fold benefits. Submitted and approved profiles were automatically updated in the national GuideStar profile as well. As many of you know, GuideStar is sun-setting the Donor's Edge platform that houses The Giving Marketplace. You'll now maintain your profile directly in GuideStar. All GuideStar profiles for active 501(c)3 organizations within our four-county service area will be visible on The Giving Marketplace page of our website. Complete profiles in GuideStar are still a requirement for our Competitive, Opportunity, Organization Development and Lowcountry Community COVID-19 Response Fund grants.
Look for these changes on or around October 1. Contact Mary Wright if you have questions or need technical support as we make this transition.
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Lowcountry Volunteer Connections
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National Volunteer Week was April 19-25. Thank you to all of you who recognized your outstanding volunteers and participated in the National Volunteer Week Challenge. The National Volunteer Week Challenge grant winners were Arrhythmia Alliance and Child Abuse Prevention Association. Congratulations to our winners and thank you for your participation.
Lowcountry Volunteer Connections is a great resource for you to find and recruit new volunteers. When you list the causes that relate to your mission, volunteers who have a preference for those causes will receive notification of your needs. Additionally, when a volunteer fans your organization they will also receive advance notification of your needs.
We currently have two initiatives on Lowcountry Volunteer Connections. One is focused on COVID-19 related volunteer needs, and the other is for Back to School related volunteer needs. If you have volunteer needs related to these focus areas, please post them under these initiatives. As always, please feel free to contact Jill Dawson if you need any help posting a volunteer need.
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SoLo SCAVA
On July 13th, SoLo SCAVA gathered via Zoom for a program meeting where we discussed Recruiting and Placement: Making a Good Match between Volunteer Skills and Service. It was great to catch up and discuss how volunteer management has changed in the wake of COVID-19.
The next SoLo SCAVA meeting will be October 5, 2020, from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., via Zoom. We hope to see you there as Stan Stolarcyk of Volunteers in Medicine presents "Training and Orientation for your New Volunteer." Membership is $35 annually. It includes four program meetings, as well as affiliation with the state agency.
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Have an idea you'd like to share? Have suggestions about Lowcountry Volunteer Connections? Want to learn more about how to get the most out of your Marketplace profile? E-mail Debbie Cahoon, Jill Dawson or Mary Wright. We'd enjoy hearing from you.
Stay up-to-date with the most recent happenings at Community Foundation of the Lowcountry:
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Community Foundation of the Lowcountry
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