Agency Endowment Fund Stories
The Sacramento Region Community Foundation is a reliable partner of nonprofit organizations in finding efficient solutions for building an endowment, ensuring sustainability for years to come. Below are the experiences shared by fund advisors from some of the agency endowment funds established at the Foundation:
Folsom Arts Endowment Fund
The establishment of the Folsom Arts Endowment Fund at the Foundation was borne out of the city’s firm belief
that having an array of arts opportunities is important for the quality of life of its residents and critical for the economic development of the city. Sandy Hilton, Community and Cultural Services Manager for the City of Folsom shares with great pride the city’s vision and plans for a vibrant arts community.
What is your vision of the arts and cultural opportunities in Folsom in years to come?
It is the vision of the city of Folsom to “become a leading city in the Sacramento region providing a broad selection of arts and cultural experiences in education and everyday life.” To achieve this vision, the city has adopted a cultural arts master plan that will serve as a road map for guiding the City Council appointed Arts Commission.
Why did you choose to establish the Folsom Arts Endowment Fund with the Sacramento Region Community Foundation?
A goal of the city’s master plan is the creation of an endowment for the arts. This endowment will provide the opportunity to develop a funding source for granting to arts organizations in perpetuity. After studying a variety of options, the city determined that establishing an arts fund with the Sacramento Region Community Foundation had many advantages including established and experienced management and a wide and varied donor base with regional and local exposure. The Folsom Arts and Cultural Commission will be vested with making recommendations for grants to organizations they feel will provide quality arts and cultural programs and services to the community.
Why is it important to support and promote the development of arts opportunities in the city of Folsom?
The arts are the soul of the community – helping to reflect and promote the city’s rich history and the community’s cultural diversity; past, present and evolving. Quality arts and cultural opportunities create a sense of community pride and a sense of place. From an economic development perspective, the presence of cultural organizations and art services is conducive to producing a creative, educated and satisfied work force. Cities that have well developed cultural amenities not only have an enhanced quality of life for residents, but have created the kind of atmosphere that businesses and corporations seek when looking for communities in which to locate.
The City of Folsom supports and encourages the development of public art because it enhances public spaces and invites public participation and interaction in those spaces. It provides an opportunity for residents and visitors to have exposure to a variety of art styles and mediums. Diversity in artistic mediums and cultural expressions enrich the community.
For more information about the City of Folsom’s Master Plan for the arts please visit www.folsom.ca.gov .
Photos courtesy of the City of Folsom
Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento Endowment Fund
The mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Sacramento is to inspire and enable young people, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. "The agency relies heavily on annual community donations to keep membership costs at a bare minimum,” says Fred Teichert. “Many donors, particularly Joyce Raley Teel, the Don Turner family and Teichert Foundation have been extremely generous over the years, but the need for a more permanent solution has been evident for awhile.”
The staff and board of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Sacramento committed to diversifying the funding sources by opening an Agency Endowment with the Sacramento Region Community Foundation so that someday, the board would not have to start from scratch every year to raise a budget to meet the needs of the organization. As Fred puts it, “The board felt that starting an endowment would be a signal to prospective major donors that resources left to the Boys & Girls Club will be used in perpetuity to make sure our community’s at-risk children and youth have the opportunities to participate in positive after school programs that will support their academic and social success.”
Fred has been pleased with the role that the Foundation played in the agency’s growth. “The Sacramento Region Community Foundation offered a low initial requirement coupled with well-designed policies that enable a small fund to have access to management expertise normally available only to much larger investment funds. The Foundation reports are professional and transparent to our donors. Moreover, Boys & Girls Club felt that getting its name on the radar of other community philanthropists might prove beneficial, as many are not yet familiar with an organization that is more than 100 years old but relatively new to Sacramento. The Foundation staff was supportive and encouraging at every step along the way, and the fund that started at $5,000 in December 2007 has grown to more than $250,000 by the end of March 2008.”
To establish an agency endowment at the Foundation, please contact Shirlee Tully, Chief Marketing and Development Officer at shirlee@sacregcf.org .