evolve Spring 2024

CONTENTS

Carolina Climbers Coalition (CCC) was awarded $35,350 to create sustainable access for hikers, climbers, and visitors to Raven Rock and Hickory Creek Boulders, located near Gerton. Raven Rock and Hickory Creek Boulders are privately owned. In Spring 2023, CCC entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the owners to open these natural areas to public outdoor recreation, create infrastructure to sustain public access, and perform stewardship tasks to restore the area’s natural integrity. Both areas had been compromised by graffiti, eroded parking and trails, and invasive species. The project is removing unsightly and unhealthy aspects while building trails and parking to encourage healthy enjoyment of the natural features.

Carolina Climbers Coalition cover photo and above by Michael Oppenheim

Evolving + Learning

Last year CFWNC completed a strategic framework process to better understand the ways we can most effectively serve the region. We learned a lot about what WNC values about CFWNC – our deep roots and history, our steadiness, our availability, and our relationships. We also received feedback about ways we can improve that resulted in adjustments to our focus areas and a recommitment to being a good partner to our stakeholders and to strengthening our role as an effective and creative regional funder.

As part of the response to this process, we have launched two pilot programs – one in partnership with Dogwood Health Trust and the other with a fundholder. We structured these as pilots to give ourselves and our partners opportunities to learn and refine our approach, based on direct feedback from grantees.

WNC Community Enhancement Grants (see page 11-12) are grants, up to $10,000, designed to help fund projects in downtowns or commercial corridors in rural or under-resourced communities that enhance physical appearance or pedestrian experience. We worked closely with Dogwood to create the program as another way to support economic development and, we hope, spur revitalization.

Rural downtowns are more likely to possess intact historic structures because they may have escaped redevelopment trends that struck larger urban areas. These downtowns can be an important asset, and revitalization can

create jobs, strengthen local economies, encourage entrepreneurship, and attract tourism.

Our second pilot, supported by the Anne Kyhos Stern Fund, is directed at non-traditional students at A-B Tech, Western Carolina University and MAHEC. This effort is an extension of our ongoing work in education and scholarships. The idea is to provide funds to meet emergency needs, such as childcare, car repair, textbooks, or technology - things that might be a barrier to the student’s ability to persevere. We are asking our partners to let us know what they discover in the process so that we can perhaps build and broaden a program. In doing so, CFWNC is helping a generous fundholder work toward her charitable goals, while reaching more non-traditional students and supporting important educational institutions. It is in its early stages, and we look forward to sharing what we learn.

Trying new approaches and learning directly from our partners makes us better grantmakers. We welcome feedback and continue to strive for greater transparency. Because CFWNC is here to meet needs as they change over time, it is built to adapt and designed for perpetuity. We are committed to understanding needs and challenges, to learning, and to continued evolution.

Onward,

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Brazas with Susan Mims, CEO of Dogwood Health Trust, at the North Carolina Network of Grantmakers Conference: Better Together, in Winston-Salem. Photo courtesy of CFWNC

Women for Women Supports OnTrack’s Expansion of Programs for Women

“Since May 2023, OnTrack Financial Education & Counseling has put its two-year $65,000 Women for Women grant to use across WNC. OnTrack’s goal is to ensure that financial knowledge and resources are reaching BIPOC and Latinx communities through an expansion of our Women’s Financial Empowerment programming.

Highlights of our outreach and community-based programming include a Money Visioning & Goal Setting class at ABCCM Costello House and hosting communitybased credit awareness events in partnership with Land of the Sky Association of Realtors/Housing Authority of the City of Asheville. We’ve also offered five credit awareness events at our offices during this time.

Credit awareness events provide clients easy and convenient access to credit reports, which they review with expert credit counselors. Accessible credit reports help remove barriers to empowering steps like purchasing a vehicle, renting a safe apartment, or buying a home—all of which depend on an understanding of credit reports and scores. In total, we’ve served more than 300 participants at credit awareness events and community-based classes alone—in addition to the hundreds of participants served by our core programming.

Language justice is a deeply held value at OnTrack. We’ve been investing heavily in scaling up our Spanish-language services. Thanks to the great leadership of our Spanish Services Coordinator, Tamara Olmedo, and Educator and Outreach Specialist, Ana Baranda, we’ve launched two new Spanish-language classes (Credit and Budgeting) and participated in Harvest Table events in Spruce Pine with one of our most active partners, Vecinos. We’re also drastically improving our website for Spanish speakers, ensuring equitable access to information and programs.

Working with agencies like Vecinos, True Ridge, Children and Family Resource Center, and Verner Center for Early Learning, we’ve redeveloped our approach to Secure Spanish programming. We’re piloting a cohort model in which participants move through the program in a mutually supportive setting. This makes the Secure program—and its $840 savings matches—more accessible than ever. We already have 80 Spanish-speaking participants enrolled in the program!”

Peter Wrublewski OnTrack Director of Finance & Grants

OnTrack started Secure in 2016 with a $58,640 proactive Human Services grant. In subsequent years, four additional grants totaling $699,500 have been awarded, with co-investors providing 26 percent. Through Secure, more than 500 people have built emergency savings and strengthened their financial skills.

OnTrack partnered with the Asheville Housing Authority and Land of the Sky Association of Realtors to host a Free Credit Awareness Day providing credit reports and scores at Maple Crest Apartments.

Photo courtesy of OnTrack

In 2019, CFWNC began partnering with Compost Now as part of our commitment to sustainable business practices. By composting our office food waste, we have diverted 1,732 pounds from the landfill and generated 433 pounds of compost. This is equivalent to offsetting driving 5,057 miles!

The Avery County Fire Commission received a $7,000 Human Services grant in November 2022 to purchase 270 sealed battery ionization smoke alarms for distribution to homes throughout Avery County. The smoke alarm units were provided to volunteer fire departments and made available at its various fire stations. The smoke alarm units were ordered in early 2023 and more than half have already been placed in Avery County homes. Firefighters from these fire departments helped install the units when requested and are still available to provide future installations. National fire data provides evidence of the all-important need for every home to have a working smoke alarm. According to that data, the risk of an individual or more people dying in reported home structure fires is more than twice lower in homes with working smoke alarms than in homes with no alarms or with those that do not operate properly.

Avery Fire Commission Assistant Coordinator Teddy Thomas; Photo courtesy of Avery County Fire Commission 7/1/23

Something surprising about CFWNC? CFWNC’s service area is about the size of the state of Vermont. Each county is unique, and I am enjoying learning about them.

Best part of your job? My colleagues are passionate and knowledgeable, and I am honored to be a part of the work we do in WNC.

When you are not at work? I love to spend time outside hiking, snowboarding, or river tubing. I also enjoy baking sweets, crocheting, and cheering on the App State Mountaineers.

Photo by Michael Oppenheim

Elizabeth Brazas and Tara Scholtz attended the North Carolina Network of Grantmakers (NCNG) Conference in Winston-Salem in February. Since June 2023, members of the NCNG community have identified learning priorities related to philanthropy in rural communities. The group invested time identifying gaps in their own and the sector’s knowledge and understanding. Tara was part of a panel entitled “What difference are we making? Engaging in meaningful evaluation in collaboration with community-based partners.” It explored the role of evaluation in assessing impact and measuring change. The panel engaged with peers to discuss evaluation and learning from community-based workers who have had a meaningful evaluation experience alongside funders. The session was well attended and received.

Golden Leaf Foundation President Scott Hamilton, Elizabeth Brazas, Tara Scholtz, and William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust Grants Officer Robby Russell; Photo courtesy of CFWNC

A $5,000 grant from The Fund for Haywood County in March 2023 supported students participating in the Haywood Community Learning Center’s graduation. The Center is a drop-out recovery and alternative learning program that fosters second chances and provides student support. It works with students to individualize education plans to best support those who hold down jobs or face other barriers to their education. This year, 63 students, the largest graduating class in the Center’s history, walked across the stage. “These are 63 people in our community that will get better jobs and will be able to contribute to their families,” said Dorothy Blankenship-Kerby. “With this assistance, we were able to book a venue for the graduation celebration and provide students with gowns, hats, tassels and diplomas. Providing graduation services helps incentivize and motivate our students.”

Photos courtesy of Haywood Community Learning Center

A community food pantry in the Bethel community has undergone major improvements through a $20,000 Human Services grant to the Bethel Rural Community Organization (BRCO). The pantry launched in 2007 providing 12 food boxes monthly. During the pandemic and following the 2021 flood, that number grew to 46. To meet the demand, volunteers and local businesses were enlisted to help implement the improvements that included efficient storage of greater volumes of food, three new freezers, a food delivery entrance ramp, new flooring and improved lighting and HVAC. “Our volunteers had limited space in which to operate,” said Stephanie Quis-Garrett, chair of the Bethel Community Pantry Committee. “Thanks to these improvements, BRCO volunteers are providing food boxes for 55-60 families each month. The Community Foundation was a huge help to us, and we were able to implement the renovations in a way that utilized our current volunteers and also attracted new ones.”

PIGEON RIVER FUND

The Pigeon River Fund awarded ten grants in November totaling $285,190 to nonprofits working to improve surface water quality, enhance fish and wildlife habitats, expand public use and access to waterways and increase water quality awareness in Buncombe, Haywood and Madison counties. The Environmental Quality Institute received $45,000 for its VWIN and SMIE programs that support volunteer stream monitoring in all three counties. Since 1996, the Pigeon River Fund has distributed more than $9.4 million in grants.

Women for Women Hosts Youth Mental Health Event

The Women for Women Advocacy and Education committee organized an event in February with Madison White and Theresa Jurgensen from Youth Villages and Hans Rosario-Singer from MAHEC (pictured right) to explore youth mental health and suicide prevention in WNC.

Photo courtesy of Environmental Quality Institute

Pantry volunteers Stephanie Quis-Garrett and Ted Carr inventory the food supply in the newly renovated pantry storage room in the BRCO Community Center; Photo courtesy of Bethel Rural Community Organization

Photo courtesy of CFWNC

Nonprofit Partners

In October, CFWNC announced adjustments to its focus areas and now awards discretionary funding in Cultural Resources, Education, Human Services, and Natural Resources.

“CFWNC is a permanent charitable resource designed to adapt to changing needs and circumstances. Regional funders are collaborating to minimize duplication and ensure that resources are deployed strategically. As these focus area adjustments indicate, we will continue to be flexible and responsive in our grantmaking, to partner with fundholders, donors and other funders, and to use all of our funding methods to support nonprofit organizations across the region.”

–Elizabeth Brazas

Cultural Resources

CFWNC is working to nurture the arts and culture ecosystem by promoting equitable access to arts and cultural experiences and supporting approaches that place the arts at the center of thriving, healthy communities.

Dozens of nonprofits support cultural resources across the region. Grants will be made through competitive and proactive awards. Competitive general operating grants are being distributed to arts councils in late April and craft organizations in July. Proactive applications may be invited for timely, unique projects or programs. These opportunities are not governed by the cycles or categories specified for competitive grants but must address the Cultural Resources focus area goals.

Education

Children First/Communities In Schools received $75,000 in February as the fiscal sponsor for the Western North Carolina Early Childhood Coalition (ECC) to support capacity building, strategic planning and campaign implementation for policy advocacy and base-building through 2024 as ECC prepares for the 2025 NC General Assembly long session. ECC remains focused on policy solutions and public investment so that: WNC parents can access affordable, trustworthy childcare; providers are financially stable and supported in meeting quality benchmarks and retaining staff; teachers are well paid and recognized as professionals; and families with young children are provided resources to support their health and financial stability.

The Dogwood Charitable Endowment Fund, John and Janet Garrett Charitable Fund and Carol Waggle Oliver Fund provided coinvestment for this grant.

The Learning Links grant program awarded 61 grants in November totaling $113,191 to regional schools to support local teachers with funding for activities designed to make required coursework engaging and relevant for their students.

“Teachers are constantly finding ways to engage their students,” said Lezette Parks, Scholarship and Program Officer. “Based on this year’s applications, the theme is experiences - inside and outside the classroom. Teachers are planning creative projects and field trips that demonstrate to students that learning is exciting and impacts their lives. Students are encouraged to stay in school so they can apply what they learn in the classroom to the world around them.”

The grants are funded through the Cherokee County Schools Foundation Endowment Fund, Fund for Education, Ben W. and Dixie Glenn Farthing Charitable Endowment, Leon C. and Grace E. Luther Charitable Fund and Clyde and Mildred Wright Endowment Fund. The Dr. Robert J. and Kimberly S. Reynolds Fund and Dogwood Charitable Endowment Fund co-invested to fund the cycle.

Human Services

Seventy-three Human Services grants totaling $1,373,190 were awarded to nonprofits serving people across the Foundation’s service area in November.

“Collaborative grantmaking is one tool we use to help fundholders achieve their charitable goals,” said CFWNC President Elizabeth Brazas. “We ask if they want to be kept informed if we are supporting a project that may be a good match. It’s rewarding when a donor’s passion aligns with a CFWNC grant opportunity.” CFWNC fundholders and donors contributed $526,932 to the total.

The co-investors are: Carol Waggle Oliver Fund, Charles F. Hamrick and Marguerite D. Hamrick Charitable Fund, Craig Family Foundation Fund, Crutchfield Charitable Fund, Deerfield Retirement Community Advised Fund, Delphinium Fund, Dogwood Charitable Endowment Fund, Dr. Robert J. and Kimberly S. Reynolds Fund, Fenton Family WNC Fund, Helping Hand Fund, Henri Landwirth Family Endowed Fund, John and Janet Garrett Charitable Fund, Little Acorn Fund – W, Mary Beth Allen Charitable Fund, Moran Family Fund, Mountain Jewell Fund, Oliver Family Fund, Perez Family Fund, Peterson Endowment Fund, CFWNC Professional Advisory Committee Charitable Fund, Rachel Helen Silver Sunshine Fund, Rick and Bridget Eckerd Charitable Fund, Samuel and William Elmore Fund for Mental Wellness, Serviceberry Fund, Terrence Lee

One Love Fund, Tina and John McGuire Charitable Fund, Travis and Jenny Boyer Fund, Trillium Fund, Walnut Fund, Wasson - Stowe Charitable Fund, Yeager-Cole Fund and one anonymous fund.

The Glass Foundation and the Lipscomb Family Foundation provided generous support for these grants.

A complete list of the grants is available at cfwnc.org.

Photo courtesy of Swain Middle School

Natural Resources

The Village Green (TVG) received $11,300 in February to fund unforeseen expenses associated with its participation in a quasi-judicial hearing process in which TVG is advocating to preserve and protect its properties for the Cashiers community. TVG is a privately-owned, 20-acre nonprofit park in the heart of Cashiers, an unincorporated village within Jackson County. Due to its unincorporated status, Cashiers residents have minimal control over future development. Their primary avenue of influence is through a hearing in Jackson County that requires organizations, represented by legal counsel, to establish standing and present expert witness testimony. Concerns with a proposed project include the potential mismanagement of stormwater and wastewater runoff from the site, the planned removal of 75% of tree cover, inadequate holding tank placement, and the imminent risk of increased sediment and higher turbidity in the streams present on the properties and the Horsepasture and Chattooga Rivers.

Wildlands Network received $30,000 in February as the fiscal sponsor for the Safe Passage Fund Coalition (SPFC) to further advance wildlife habitat connectivity in Western North Carolina. The mission of SPFC is to raise financial and public support for mitigation measures in reducing wildlife–vehicle collisions along a 28-mile stretch of Interstate 40 in Haywood County’s Pigeon River Gorge. It includes people and organizations who share a vision to balance the needs of native wildlife with the ever-growing human population. Safe Passage members include local, tribal, state, and federal agencies, land managers, conservation organizations, nonprofit partners, and other invested North Carolina and Tennessee community members. CFWNC previously awarded $30,000 for this work in November 2022. With this grant, SPFC will expand local and statewide grassroots support and political momentum created over the last several years.

The Trillium Fund, Rick and Bridget Eckerd Charitable Fund and Rachel Helen Silver Sunshine Fund provided coinvestment for this grant.

Photoscourtesy of Safe Passage

Francine Bowman: Creating a Continuing Legacy

If you visit or volunteer for the equine rescue, Hope for Horses, in Leicester, you may notice plaques on two shelters that acknowledge support from the Francine Bowman Endowment Fund. CFWNC recently awarded a $14,400 discretionary grant from the Fund to enable the rescue to purchase two run-in shelters for their horses.

“This grant made it possible for us to continue the work of rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming horses in need,” said Sandy Bagarella, Farm Manager. “Since adding the two run-in shelters, we have made space for five more horses. They had a safe place to land because the grant made the space possible.”

Over the years, Bowman’s Fund has supported crucial forest planning work, programs for women, cultural heritage preservation, and numerous animal shelters and rescues. Recent grants include Carolina Climbers Association (front cover), Foothills Conservancy, Local Cloth and the Center for Craft.

So just who was Francine Bowman and how is it that more than twenty years after her death, her legacy to her community continues to make meaningful improvements? She was a generous philanthropist, an environmentalist, a lover of the arts, and a planner.

Bowman worked for the U.S. Foreign Service in eleven different countries. She chose to retire to Asheville, drawn by the scenic beauty and the colleges and universities that could support life-long learning. A five-time cancer survivor, she made detailed arrangements to ensure that her life savings would support the causes close to her heart.

“This grant made it possible for us to continue the work of rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming horses in need.”

Sandy Bagarella, Farm Manager

When Bowman developed her charitable plan in 1995, she chose a charitable gift annuity to care for her sister and a field of interest fund to support interests developed over a lifetime. For two decades, CFWNC has carried out Bowman’s instructions by making grants, totalling $727,000, to the causes and nonprofits she indicated in her documents. Francine Bowman’s planning and partnership resulted in a legacy that continues to make a difference. Adhering to donor intent is a cornerstone principle of CFWNC’s mission and model.

Photo courtesy of Hope for Horses

$122,117

in WNC Community Enhancement Grants Awarded Supporting Rural Economic Development

The goal of WNC Community Enhancement grants is to support nonprofits and public agencies engaged in projects in downtowns or commercial corridors that enhance appearance, infrastructure, or the pedestrian experience in under-resourced communities. CFWNC and Dogwood Health Trust partnered to make the grants available. CFWNC administers the program; Dogwood Health Trust provided the funding for the one-year pilot. The grants are another way to support rural economic development and can help build, rebuild or refresh community spaces that foster connections and economic development. Grants are reviewed and announced quarterly. The next deadline to apply is June 10.

Grants awarded in the first two cycles are:

$10,000 to Boys & Girls Club of the Plateau for a beautification project along public sidewalks beside the organization’s building in Cashiers.

$10,000 to City of Marion to revitalize Main Street in its historic downtown district to bolster pedestrian safety and usability.

$10,000 to Grow With Drexel to beautify the downtown business area.

$10,000 to Main Street Sylva Association for its Mill Street Rear Façade Improvement Program.

$10,000 to Rutherford County Visual Artists Guild to assist in creating an original painted mural that will be installed on the exterior wall of its building in downtown Rutherfordton.

$10,000 to Safelight to beautify the area surrounding two buildings it owns on Church Street in downtown Hendersonville.

$10,000 to Smoky Mountain Community Theatre to enhance the historic 1950s theatre located on Main Street in Bryson City.

Madison

Yancey

Mitchell McDowell

Buncombe

Haywood

Jackson

Transylvania

Henderson

Rutherford

Polk Burke Avery

Qualla Boundary Grant Location

$2,117 to Town of Andrews to upgrade two electrical poles to the required 30 and 50 amp service so that food trucks supporting town events do not need generators.

$10,000 to Town of Clyde to purchase benches, two stream recycling containers and flower planters to be placed in the Town Square.

$10,000 to Town of Maggie Valley to purchase an addition to the Maggie Pavilion to provide open air seating for Pavilion events.

$10,000 to Town of Murphy to complete a 15 by 40-foot mural on the side wall of the building located at 13 Tennessee Street in downtown Murphy, facing the public property that comprises the Town Square.

$10,000 to Town of Waynesville to support downtown Waynesville Commission’s installation of a hand-painted mural along a pedestrian alleyway.

$10,000 to Western Carolina Pacesetters to enhance the appearance and efficiency of two store fronts in the building that the organization recently acquired in downtown Murphy.

Center for Native Health

In September, The Center for Native Health (CNH) opened a nonprofit organization fund, the ᏙᎯ “Tohi” Fund with CFWNC as part of its sustainability planning. CNH is guided by two Cherokee principles Duyvktv and Tohi, which together form an Indigenous structure for understanding health and wellbeing. The Center’s goal is the reduction of health disparities for native communities through the preservation and respectful application of community-held knowledge. It works to revitalize and strengthen traditional Cherokee culture as a form of individual and collective healing.

Photos courtesy of Center for Native Health

From the Kituwah (Cherokee) perspective, “...health is more than the absence of disease; it includes a fully confident sense of a smooth life, peaceful existence, unhurried pace, and easy flow of time. The natural state of the world is to be neutral, balanced, with a similarly gently flowing pattern... All aspects—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual—figure into the Cherokee concept of good health.” (Lefler, 2009).

“I see four important areas that CNH will focus on in the coming years: matrilineal care, land equity and wellness, cultural preservation through application, and our continued work to educate and mentor the next generation of American Indian medical professionals. As a Native-led organization, we are deeply invested and committed to building relationships with funders, organizations, universities, and, most importantly, community members that reflect our values.

We opened a fund at CFWNC because our board liked that it is rooted in WNC, can provide investment management to help us grow our funds, and has so many deep relationships with other nonprofits. The ᏙᎯ “Tohi” Fund has the potential to be transformative as we build a pathway towards sustainability as an organization. For us to carry out our mission, especially since we do not receive any EBCI tribal funding, we constantly look for partners who are willing and able to provide the resources for us to thrive.

Our board includes fluent Cherokee speakers, and we chose to use Cherokee language and concepts in the fund name to illuminate what the fund will support.

The mission and approach of CNH are unique in the nation because we are driven first and foremost by a community agenda and guided with the advice of community members. We are relationship driven at all levels. West of the Mississippi there are tribal colleges that address the needs of native communities in a culturally-grounded manner. This is not the case in the East and in lieu of a tribal college, CNH works with the EBCI and other sovereign tribal nations in the Southeast to address issues related to the significant health disparities that exist in native communities.”

Trey Adcock (ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ enrolled Cherokee Nation), PhD, Executive Director

Friends + Neighbors + Philanthropists

Funds Created between July 1 and December 31, 2023

Charitable Gift Annuities and Charitable Remainder Trusts allow donors to make a future gift and receive income and tax advantages now.

Nancy Alexander Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust

Bruce Bente Charitable Gift Annuity

John Hazlehurst Charitable Gift Annuity 19

John Hazlehurst Charitable Gift Annuity 20

Kimmel Charitable Gift Annuity

William and Rhonda Mobley Charitable Gift Annuity for MemoryCare

Designated Funds support specific nonprofits named when the fund is established.

Broadwell Designated Fund 2023

Ted Ghiz and Ronnie Mill Charitable Fund 2023

Kimmel Guest Designated Fund 2023

W. Gresham Orrison Designated Fund #5

Robinson 2023 Charitable Fund

John Bush Rogers Designated Fund 2023

Donor Advised Funds allow donors to make a charitable contribution, receive an immediate tax benefit and recommend grants over time.

Hellbender Fund

Oby Morgan Fund for Happiness in WNC P.O.P.E. C.A.U.S.E. Fund

Stickney Family Charitable Fund

Expectancy Funds are established to receive assets at a later time, typically through an estate plan, charitable gift annuity or charitable trust.

Nancy G. Alexander Fund

JoAnn Dillingham Endowed Fund

Ned Fowler and Alice Houston Fund

Julian Creek Artworks Fund

Linda B. Kay Fund

Mami Tesh Latina Hope Scholarship And two anonymous funds

Field of Interest Funds support a broadly-defined area such as the arts, the environment or health.

WNC Community Enhancement Pilot Fund

Memorial Funds are a simple, meaningful way to honor a life.

Cathy S. Butler Memorial Fund

Nikita Smart Memorial Fund

Nonprofit Organization Funds are created to invest and steward a nonprofit’s long-term or endowed assets.

Active Meditation Fund

Esther Burstein Endowment ᏙᎯ “Tohi” Fund

A Field of Interest Fund supports a broadly defined area such as the arts, the environment or health, or a more narrow interest perhaps a specific county or cause. These funds are an important element of our work and growth. CFWNC has created field of interest endowments to make it easy for anyone to give to funds that address changing regional needs. Donor field of interest funds are created by generous people to support specific causes they are passionate about in perpetuity. Each year grants are made from these endowed funds that align with stated purposes and support programs and organizations working to improve lives and communities across the region.

Learn more about regional endowments – cfwnc.org/donors/regional-endowments

Partnership with Professional Advisors

32nd Annual Professional Seminar

Monday, May 6, 2024

Planning for Tax Changes and the Corporate Transparency Act

Featuring Christopher N. Hewitt, J.D.

The Seminar will provide updates regarding income tax, estate and gift tax and generation-skipping tax and will address potential future tax law changes. It will delve into the Corporate Transparency Act and the associated FinCEN rules regarding enforcement. The discussion will be technical and practical focused on the broad application of the law and its impact. Finally, the presentation will conclude with various planning opportunities, both charitable and non-charitable, that clients may utilize in light of uncertain tax rules.

Christopher N. Hewitt, J.D. is a corporate & securities and private wealth lawyer, focusing his practice in the areas of generational wealth transfer planning, trust and estate administration and tax-exempt planning.

Continuing education credit is available. Register by April 30 at cfwnc.org.

We are grateful to our sponsors:

Beacon Pointe Advisors

• Begley Law Firm, P.A. • Black & Associates, LLC

• Colton Groome Financial •

DMJPS

• First Citizens Bank

• FORVIS Private Client

• Gilreath Shealy Law, PLLC

• Gould Killian CPA Group, PA / Altamont Capital Management, LLC

• Hemphill Gelder, P.C.

• Little, Lattimore and Ledford, PA

• McGuire, Wood & Bissette Law Firm

• Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

• Modera Wealth Management, LLC

• Northwestern Mutual

• Prager Metis CPAs LLC

•

R. Walton Davis III P.A.

• Roberts & Stevens, P.A.

• Strauss Attorneys, PLLC • The Van Winkle Law Firm

• Ward and Smith, P.A. •

Kenneth Youngblood, Attorney

CFWNC hosted a gathering of professional advisors at our offices on March 7. We partner with professional advisors across the region to make charitable giving effective, convenient and meaningful. Philanthropy is our only business, and our goal is to support advisors by helping their philanthropic clients achieve their charitable goals and build a legacy.

Board Vice Chair and Secretary Joanne Badr, Ward and Smith P.A. and Allison Quigley, Begley Law Firm; Professional Advisory Committee Member Candace Mance, McGuire, Wood and Bissette and Laura Herndon; Logan Bolick, Beacon Pointe Advisors, Koral Alman, The Van Winkle Law Firm and Elizabeth Brazas; Photos courtesy of CFWNC

Photo courtesy of Christopher Hewitt, Womble Bond & Dickinson

Board Member Reflection

Caroline Avery was elected to the Board of Directors in 2016 while she was working for EJ Victor Furniture. She was formerly the founding Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Burke County.

“I joined the Peace Corps after college and served two years in Zaire. I saw firsthand how a small group of people can make a difference in the lives of many people. I knew that I wanted that kind of work to remain a priority in my life.

CFWNC’s focus on improving lives for people in western North Carolina was a good fit for me. It is not swift work. It involves relationships, trust and persistence, oftentimes yielding transformational results.

I have served on the Distribution Committee during my tenure. CFWNC Staff and Board work hand-in-hand with mutual respect, open minds, deep thinking, and no egos. We read and discuss every grant application, and staff responds to every question and request for more information. We focus on developing a deep understanding of a program without overstressing our nonprofit partners. Our committee makes recommendations to the full Board that makes final distribution decisions. The process works beautifully because staff and committee members participate fully as partners.

Good leadership determines how comfortable board members feel about working so closely with staff. Board members are invited to ask questions, request primary source materials, and even challenge them. Our Board feels empowered to think and dig deeper. It is unique in my nonprofit experience, and the way a board should work.

When the pandemic struck, Elizabeth Brazas led the organization to respond nimbly to unprecedented needs. A quick study, she immediately understood that those were not normal times. Elizabeth rallied the team to work hard and fast, so that CFWNC could get much-needed funds to front-line organizations. Staff proved to be unafraid to think outside the box and streamline processes.

Over three terms, I have seen staggering growth in donor co-investment. Our commitment to due diligence, site visits, community feedback and deep relationships give donors confidence that CFWNC understands needs and potential solutions. Every grant is not a home run, yet I respect that CFWNC is willing to step into uncharted territory. It yields thoughtful and innovative grants and projects.

This community foundation is effective in collaborating with other funders and/or government agencies to find healthy approaches to complicated challenges in WNC. Funders and agencies are drawn out of their silos and embrace newfound strength through collaborative work.

My time at CFWNC has reinforced for me that listening and getting to know one another yields trust and understanding and often the revelation of shared needs and dreams. I hope that we continue to build such communities of love where people find joy and transformation in helping one another and working together.”

Caroline Avery (far right) with COO Julie Klipp and board members Natalie Bailey and Connie Haire; Photo courtesy of CFWNC

Funds + Planned Giving Options

When you give through CFWNC, you join thousands of like-minded individuals committed to the region and to giving back.

Give Now

CFWNC builds endowments to address needs as they change over time. You can make a taxdeductible contribution to any of these funds, knowing that your support helps WNC forever.

Fund for Western North Carolina

Affiliate Funds

Fund for the Arts

Fund for Education

Fund for the Environment

Fund for Health

Fund for People in Need

Fund for Scholarships

Fund for Strong Communities

Women for Women Endowment Fund

The Women’s Fund

Create a Fund

CFWNC offers customized giving solutions. We can help you develop a plan that is personal, thorough and effective.

Become a Fundholder

A donor advised fund, named or anonymous, may provide tax benefits and a convenient way to consolidate your giving. You can open a fund that benefits a favorite nonprofit or supports students or a particular cause.

New for 2024

Qualified charitable distributions are now indexed for inflation.

What to Give

You can give cash, marketable securities and mutual fund shares, closely held stock, retirement accounts, interest in a limited liability partnership, life insurance, real estate or private foundation assets. Your professional advisors partner in this process, ensuring coordination across your planning.

Give Later

A bequest is the simplest way to leave a legacy of caring for the issues, organizations or community most important to you. Other options include Charitable Gift Annuities or Charitable Remainder Trusts.

If you have an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and must take the required minimum distribution (RMD) you may be interested in satisfying all or part of your RMD through a qualified charitable distribution.

Starting this year, outright gifts of qualified charitable distributions can be up to $105,000 per person.

Additionally, you can create charitable gift annuities with a qualified charitable distribution up to $53,000 per person and receive a fixed income stream for life.

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