“Leaders in Shickley, NE, generated 150 local gifts for their new community fund endowment, all from a town of only 379 people. African-American neighbors in rural VA pool their resources to permanently support community change for the long-term.” These were just two of the items that grabbed my attention in a report I read last night called “The Power of Rural Philanthropy” (http://www.givingforum.org/rural/resources/Rural_Report.pdf).
One of the most powerful forces for change that I’ve witnessed in traveling around the country for the past several years is Community Foundations. Their growth has been spectacular and they are a major force of change for many towns. This report estimated that there are over 2,000 geographic funds affiliated with community foundations with over $1.5 billion in rural endowments, most established within the past ten years. And, these funds are up 132% in the past six years alone.
If you don’t have a community foundation set up yet in your community, make a resolution to start one in 2006. Those of you with community foundations should pat yourselves on the back for having set one up and for what you are going to be able to do in your communities as a result.
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The State of IN is far ahead of most other states because of a very innovative program put together by the Eli Lilly Foundation, which helped to set up community foundations in every county in the state. They have poured tens of millions of dollars into this initiative and the results have been incredible.
Even some of the smallest, most remote counties in the state have multi-million endowed foundations.
I’ve see incredible community foundations in Winfield, KS, Sheridan, WY, Aurora, NE and other rural towns. There are great statewide ones in states like NE, ND and IA. I’m sure that there are others that I haven’t become aware of yet.
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