BUILDING on a FOUNDATION of philanthropy 2016 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY GIVING CFCV Assets 2012 93,129,150 of 2013 99,720,097 2014 106,382,252 2015 105,877,665 2016 130,290,769 We’ve all heard it: we live in a generous community. Some are born with this generous spirit and others learn it, realizing that working with others can help accomplish dreams that would be impossible on our own. All across the Gifts to the CFCV Chattahoochee Valley, we see positive things happening because of this giving nature. 2012 8,995,821 At the Community Foundation, it is our honor to help facilitate that giving spirit, 2013 10,217,599 offering a venue that helps families, businesses and other organizations make a difference... now and forever. 2014 10,202,581 As we look for even-better ways to connect people with things that they care about, we celebrate the work that our donors accomplished through us in 2016: 2015 16,744,244 • Thanks to the generosity of some 1,000 donors, the Community Foundation 2016 28,883,095 ended Fiscal Year 2016 with net assets of $130 million. • We received 1,484 gifts of $43 million during the year (including inter-fund gifts), bringing the total contributions we’ve received since our founding to more than $227 million. • We made 1,818 grants during the year of over $25 million (again, including RICH HISTORY Grants from the CFCV inter-fund grants) from what now totals 267 active Funds. • Since we began, we have now made a total of more than $127 million in A 2012 6,575,174 grants back to the community, underlining our growing position as a center of thoughtful philanthropy for the Chattahoochee Valley. 2013 10,017,520 • Still, because of the operating support we receive from our Founder’s Society 2014 8,655,939 Endowment, no more than one cent of each dollar contributed goes to administrative costs. 2015 11,074,275 To the hundreds of people who trusted us during 2016, thank you! For the board and staff of this busy organization, that trust is an awesome responsibility, but it’s 2016 11,656,544 why we’re here. Enjoy the stories on these pages to learn more about our work, and let us know if we can help you become a part of it! Ken Henson Betsy W. Covington 2016 Chair, Board of Trustees President and CEO MISSION Why we exist We enable and promote philanthropy that inspires, facilitates and fosters a vibrant and engaged Chattahoochee Valley. VISION How we accomplish our mission We are the premier center for thoughtful philanthropy for people who want to make their Chattahoochee Valley communities better, both during and after their lifetimes. We: • Help a multitude of donors easily and effectively deploy a wide range of assets to impact their charitable interests. • Responsibly invest assets to preserve and increase grantmaking capital. • Know our communities and share that knowledge to empower engagement, leadership and improvement. • Lead and collaborate to shape effective responses to community needs and opportunities. VALUES Core beliefs that guide our decision-making and actions Service • We were created to lead through service; we serve our donors, our area’s nonprofits and our community at large. Stewardship • We are entrusted with people’s hopes, dreams and financial resources in perpetuity; we manage them in ways that uphold that trust and exceed expectations while remaining cost effective. Integrity • We conduct our business dealings with honor; we can be relied on to act responsibly. Inclusiveness • We are an institution of communal good, we seek to work collaboratively and to mobilize the resources of the community to meet the community’s needs. Independence • We represent the best interest of the community as a whole; we are not obligated to individuals, organizations or others. Knowledge • We learn continually and are a repository of community understanding, knowledge and expertise; we use that information to engage others and mobilize philanthropy to make a difference. COLUMBUS HOMELESSNESS TRENDING TOWARD ZERO urban centers across the United States, of our community partners receive grants In homelessness has become an epidemic. Last year from state or federal programs, and alone, the homeless population increased by 14 percent they’re very restrictive as far in Washington and 21 percent in Dallas. Los Angeles’ as what you can use them homeless population is now as large as 25 percent of for,” says Home for Good the entire population of Columbus. The cost of these Executive Director Pat numbers is daunting, measured in lost personal potential, Frey. “For instance, you emergency healthcare and public safety concerns alone. can pay a security But in Columbus, the number of people experiencing deposit or first homelessness who are unsheltered hasn’t just been month’s rent, but you falling, it’s been plummeting—from 164 in 2015 to only may have someone 73 today, according to Len Williams, CEO of the Housing who needs a deposit Authority of Columbus. for their light service This decrease didn’t come about because of a single or other utilities. magic solution or “angel investor”—it came about There are also start- through strong leadership, coordination of a wide array up costs for household of groups and generous giving by the community. CFCV items. Those funds [from CFCV] have is playing a part in all three. allowed us that flexibility.” For the leadership component, CFCV president and CEO Funding from the CFCV has also enabled Betsy Covington served on the city steering committee Home for Good to provide “wraparound that helped devise a 10-year plan for combating services” such as counseling services, finding homelessness. The entity charged with implementing employment or getting children assigned to a that plan, Home for Good, handles the coordination part, new school district. making sure that the many Columbus organizations And while the numbers are impressive, Frey says the and agencies serving the homeless are all on the same individual stories are what mean the most to her. “A page; Covington serves on their steering committee as gentleman in his 60s just moved into Waverly Terrace, well. And the CFCV is helping support Home for Good which is a new senior apartment community,” she says. with a three-year $75,000 grant from the Moselle W. “This gentleman had been on and off the streets for and H. Quigg Fletcher Jr. Endowment Fund, as well as almost five years, and he just desperately wanted to the Home for Good Permanent Supportive Housing have a place he could call home again and live Plan Implementation Fund, started at the CFCV by an out his retirement years in some safety and anonymous donor. some comfort. When he signed his lease, Home for Good, which falls under the purview of his words were, ‘I’m numb. I can’t believe United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley, not only has this is happening. Someone pinch me.’ found shelter for many people experiencing chronic It’s absolutely wonderful to be able homelessness, it has placed many of them in permanent to lend a hand and see that dream housing thanks to a voucher program sponsored by the come true.” Housing Authority. “Now they’re able to go out on the private market and find housing,” Williams says, who also serves as chair of Home for Good’s steering committee. “So we’ve had a lot of outreach with landlords, both through Home for Good and the Housing Authority, and we’ve really been quite successful in finding landlords who are willing to work with this segment of our population.” And CFCV’s help ensures that Home for Good’s involvement doesn’t end once someone has a roof over his or her head. “We and so many Annual Point In Time Count HOME FOR GOOD: THE ALLIANCE TO END 2017 2016 HOMELESSNESS Surveyed Surveyed STEERING COMMITTEE: Len Williams, Chair 282 303 CEO, Housing Authority of Columbus, GA homeless homeless Betsy Covington individuals individuals President and CEO, Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley 209 sheltered 217 sheltered Scott Ferguson 73 unsheltered 86 unsheltered President and CEO, United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley 166 116 187 115 males females males females Gordon Griswould Captain, Police Department, City of Columbus Laura Johnson Community Reinvestment, City of Columbus Rick McKnight After years of homelessness, Director of Education, RiverCenter Charles Edge looks out the for the Performing Arts window of his new home in Waverly Terrace Senior Neil Richardson Apartments (below), located Chaplain, Muscogee County in this renovated school. Sherriff’s Office County Jail Beth Schwartz Rabbi, Temple Israel Nancy Williams Sr. Director Volunteer Services and Community Outreach, Columbus Regional Health Waleisah Wilson Founder and President, New-Life Second Chance Outreach Ron King, PhD Community Leader A FAIR INVESTMENT PAYS BIG DIVIDENDS been two decades since the last Chattahoochee Valley “Our distribution committee saw this as an opportunity to It’s Fair, but those with fond memories can rest assured invest in a project that aligned with both the interests of that its spirit, and its boost to the region, still lives on—just in a the Fair Fund as well as CFCV’s mission to facilitate and different form. foster a vibrant and engaged Chattahoochee Valley,” says As the fair was closing down in 1998, its board decided to put Kelli Parker, CFCV’s director of grants and community its assets to use—some $600,000—as seed money toward a partnerships. new idea: an area community foundation. “They’re developing a new website and improving their To say it proved to be a savvy investment would be an social media presence—virtually connecting people to understatement.