connecting people,
building communities
Spring 2015
News from the Delaware Community Foundation
Creating the Vision, Forging the Path DCF expands role in community knowledge and leadership
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magine a different Delaware. Imagine the Delaware you really wish for, with vibrant, thriving communities throughout the state, and opportunities for everyone.
This is the vision of the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF), and we are proud to say that we are expanding our work to help make that vision a reality. Since inception in 1986, the DCF has been a powerful force for good. We have awarded more than $220 million in grants and scholarships over the past 29 years, touching thousands of lives, advancing innumerable charitable causes, and strengthening communities throughout the First State.
“By undertaking this project, driven by data and research, the Foundation will help provide an objective view of our challenges and contribute to implementing solutions.” ~ Gov. Jack Markell But we have the capacity to do so much more. Thanks largely to your support, the DCF has developed an influential standing in the community, as well as a highly effective infrastructure and solid financial position. The Board of Directors has determined that the DCF will leverage this strength to benefit the community by increasing our work in community knowledge and leadership. While the details are still evolving, our path forward is clear. In this newsletter, read more about our new strategic direction and how it will benefit the community.
At a press conference in February at the Wilmington Public Library, more than 50 friends and supporters joined Gov. Jack Markell (above), DCF President & CEO Fred Sears, and Board Chair Marilyn Hayward as they announced the DCF’s expanded mission.
Delaware Community Foundation Officers & Executive Committee Marilyn Rushworth Hayward, Chair Thomas L. Sager, Esq., Vice Chair Kelly Firment, Member-at-Large David Singleton, Treasurer Lynn Adams Kokjohn, SCAC Chairman Hon. Stephen P. Lamb, Secretary John Paradee, Esq., KCAC Chairman Thomas J. Shopa, Immediate Past Chairman
Directors Doneene Keemer Damon Bill Dugdale Martha S. Gilman Daryl A. Graham Jennings Hastings John C. Hawkins Nancy Karibjanian Rob MacGovern Kathleen McDonough Janice E. Nevin
Donald W. Nicholson Jr. Vice Chancellor John Noble Laurisa S. Schutt Joan L. Sharp Valerie J. Sill Gary Stockbridge Cindy L. Szabo, Esq. Michelle A. Taylor Michele Whetzel
Connecting People, Building Communities is published by the Delaware Community Foundation Fred C. Sears II, President and CEO Allison Taylor Levine, APR, Editor Hughes Design Inc., Design www.delcf.org www.facebook.com/ DelawareCommunityFoundation Twitter: @DelCommunity Wilmington Office: Community Service Building 100 W. 10th Street, Suite 115 Wilmington, DE 19801 P: 302.571.8004 | F: 302.571.1553 Central Delaware Office: 101 W. Loockerman St., Suite 2C Dover, DE 19904 P: 302.724.7552 | F: 302.856.4367 Southern Delaware Office: 36 The Circle Georgetown, DE 19947 P: 302.856.4393 | F: 302.856.4367 The Delaware Community Foundation manages charitable funds for individuals, families, businesses, and organizations, and distributes income from the funds as grants to humanitarian, educational, health and cultural entities throughout the First State. With more than 1,300 funds, approximately $290 million in assets and annual grants of about $13 million, the foundation provides a lasting source of charitable funding to benefit Delawareans today and for generations to come. Since 1986, the foundation has been connecting people who care with the causes they care about, helping to make Delaware a better place to live and work.
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Building a Vision for Delaware’s Future
Dear Friends, As you may have seen in recent media, the Delaware Community Foundation is evolving and expanding on our traditional work to increase our positive community impact. During the past several months, we have often alluded to our determination to leverage our reputation as a force for good, build on our work with charitable funds, and do even more for the state we love. Now, after nearly two years of research and discussion with nonprofit leaders, government officials, business owners, fundholders and others who care, we have determined that we can best serve Delaware by fortifying our role as an engine for positive change.
Fred C. Sears II and Marilyn R. Hayward
We aspire to do this by helping the community: • Use data and information to gain objective, data-driven knowledge of Delaware through an indicator project, also known as a community profile project. • Build a shared vision for our state’s future and a civic agenda to guide us toward that vision. • Facilitate the collaborations and initiatives necessary to make that vision a reality.
What does this mean? We want to help the community use real data – uninfluenced by special interests or politics – to see where the needs are and how we can work together to make Delaware a better place to live and work. Not only will this new, deeper knowledge benefit the community at large, but it also will be of great use to our fundholders and other funders as they weigh how to allocate their charitable dollars and monitor the impact of their generosity. Cutting-edge community foundations around the country are already using this model to help their fundholders and their communities make great strides. From Boston to Arizona and Miami
to Nebraska, indicator projects are providing knowledge about increasingly complex issues that inform a civic agenda.
stakeholders, and to drive initiatives to improve the quality of life here in the First State.
We can do this for Delaware.
But to achieve the type of significant impact we’re aiming for, it will take time, energy, financial resources, and the support of our community – including you.
Community Knowledge As our first step on this new path, the DCF will launch the state’s first truly comprehensive community evaluation tool in the form of a publicly accessible website by the end of 2015. The site will host a database of community indicators – statistical information about various social, economic and environmental issues – both statewide and by county. This body of data will objectively illustrate where we stand now, highlight opportunities for improvement, and serve as the baseline against which we measure the impact of our collaborative efforts. For more information about the DCF’s new indicator project, please see the article on page 4.
Community Leadership
At the DCF, we are ready to lead a local movement to use knowledge and insight to identify cross-cutting needs, to align our community around common goals, to create partnerships among stakeholders, and to drive initiatives to improve the quality of life here in the First State.
Whether you’re a fundholder, a longtime friend of the DCF, or just getting to know us, we hope that you will be inspired to join us in advancing the common good in the coming months and years.
With the knowledge we develop through the indicator project, the DCF will facilitate community conversations around the state to build a shared agenda for the future – a vision of the Delaware we all wish for – and a civic agenda to guide us to the realization of that vision. Once that agenda is in place, we will be its engine, convening and rallying stakeholders who can address issues at their roots and work together to drive initiatives that will make real and lasting change.
Sincerely,
Fred C. Sears II, President and CEO
M arilyn R. Hayward, Chair
At the DCF, we are ready to lead a local movement to use knowledge and insight to identify cross-cutting needs, to align our community around common goals, to create partnerships among
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Annual Friends Campaign To Benefit Delaware’s Future, Invest in the DCF As you know, the DCF is embarking upon the formidable job of building and driving a shared vision for Delaware. We are confident we will have great success, but we will need your support. The DCF has been a major positive philanthropic revenue-generating source in the First State for the past 29 years, and we have become largely self-sustaining through fees we charge for management of charitable accounts. Now, to further enhance our impact and become the transformational foundation we aspire to be, we must invest in our organization’s infrastructure. We have embarked on this path after months of research, external benchmarking, reflection and careful planning. Our Board of Directors, staff and thought leaders throughout the state are fully aligned and supportive of our strategic direction. Even if you have never before given in support of the DCF’s groundbreaking community focused leadership efforts, I ask you to invest in us now by making a gift to the 2015 Friends Campaign. As a Friend of the DCF, your gift will assist in creating the platform needed to enable the foundation to facilitate a datadriven, collaborative approach to addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing our state and local community. Please give online securely at delcf.org/friends or by check mailed to Delaware Community Foundation, PO Box 1636, Wilmington, DE 19899. Sincerely,
Tom Sager 2015 Friends Campaign Chairman 4
What is the DCF indicator project? To increase and deepen our knowledge of Delaware, the DCF is launching the state’s first truly holistic community indicator project this year. Community indicators are measurements of social, environmental and economic factors that affect quality of life. In a community indicator project, these factors are gathered and analyzed over time to evaluate the community’s well-being and monitor whether it’s improving, declining, or staying the same. These metrics help us decide how to focus our resources to improve our community, and then to monitor the impact of our collective efforts. By the end of 2015, the DCF will debut a publicly accessible online database of community indicators specific to Delaware and its many communities. We also will issue an analysis of the data, outlining the insights provided and the trends revealed. “To build a unified vision, we need accurate and broad-based information about our community’s most pressing needs and most promising opportunities,” DCF Board Chair Marilyn Rushworth Hayward said. The report will be updated annually, and the online data will be updated more frequently to allow for continual monitoring of the community’s evolving needs. Using this data, the DCF will help the community create a shared vision for Delaware’s future and build a statewide, data-driven civic agenda to realize that vision. The DCF will then facilitate partnerships and strategic initiatives that help align the community’s resources to support the agenda. While this is a new model for the DCF, community foundations around the country are using similar approaches to identify and address needs in their communities. For examples, see the Boston Indicators Project at bostonindicators.org or Our Miami at ourmiami.org. To build Delaware’s database, the DCF is contracting with the Center for Governmental Research (CGR), a Rochester, N.Y.-based nonprofit that specializes in helping communities and organizations use data to evaluate and address needs. CGR has an excellent record of successfully supporting numerous other organizations in similar endeavors. In the coming months and years, the DCF plans to enhance its working relationships with local organizations to analyze, share and use the data, in combination with the DCF’s unique expertise and insight into Delaware.
Growing Our Capabilities As we expand our work in community knowledge and leadership, we will also be expanding our infrastructure to help us fulfill our new mission. Team
Technology
Over the next year, the DCF will create three new positions: data analyst, community engagement vice president, and community knowledge manager.
As we increase our focus on using data to help make strategic decisions about addressing community needs, we need to increase our ability to organize and understand the data, as well as our ability to share that information with the community.
The data analyst will support our increased focus on using data to identify, monitor and address the community’s most pressing needs by managing and reporting on information gathered from around the state and from the DCF’s internal resources. The community engagement vice president will serve as our primary link to the community, traveling throughout the state to listen to Delawareans’ concerns, representing the DCF at meetings and events, and supplementing the data we collect with critical information gleaned from dialogue, observation and personal engagement. With this intimate understanding of our state’s unique communities, the community engagement vice president will help identify and initiate the strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts to help public- and private-sector organizations maximize their resources as they address community needs. The community knowledge manager will track, organize and study the insights the community engagement vice president gathers, and help organizations navigate the initial development of new partnerships and projects.
Our biggest new technology project is the online community profile, which will be live and publicly accessible by the end of 2015. See the article “What’s an indicator project?” on the facing page for more information. You may already have noticed our new, mobile-friendly website. The new site enables visitors to give to DCF charitable funds by credit card easily and securely, compare different ways of giving to maximize impact and tax advantages, get the latest information on charitable giving laws, and more. We’re also working on upgrading fundholders’ online account access and grantmaking capabilities. Behind the scenes, we’re developing various internal systems to manage the information our team gathers every day as we work with people around the state, learning about our community’s needs and opportunities, as well as the individuals and organizations committed to making Delaware a better place for all of us to live and work. Stay tuned for more information about how we’re growing and changing to increase our positive community impact!
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Fund for Women Awards $143,545 in Grants Since inception in 1993, the Fund for Women (FFW) has awarded more than $2.1 million in grants to causes supporting women and girls in Delaware. This year, FFW awarded $143,545 to 13 nonprofit organizations in Kent, New Castle and Sussex Counties.
2015 Fund for Women Grants Central Delaware Habitat for Humanity, Inc. Child, Inc.
$10,000
Children & Families First
$10,000
Delaware Hospice
$13,000
Family Promise of Northern NC County
$10,000
Friendship House Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Goodwill of Delaware & Delaware County
During the grant selection process, Fund for Women Grant Committee members Pam Meitner (left) and Holly Kershner (middle) visited the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware’s toy closet with Executive Director Pam Cornforth.
$10,000
$8,000 $10,000 $7,575
La Red Health Center
$15,000
Ronald McDonald House of Delaware
$10,000
Survivors of Abuse in Recovery (SOAR)
$14,970
Sussex County Habitat for Humanity
$15,000
Wilmington Senior Center
$10,000
Lynn Kokjohn Receives Fund for Women’s Driving Force Award The Fund for Women honored Lynn Adams Kokjohn this spring with the 2015 Driving Force Award, which celebrates the work of an individual who has made great contributions to advance the organization. Lynn, a Rehoboth Beach resident, led a team that recruited more than 200 new FFW Founders (members) and helped raise thousands of dollars to support grants assisting women and girls in Delaware. She has served as chair of the Sussex County Development Committee on the FFW Board of Trustees for six years. In April, Lynn coordinated the FFW’s fifth annual “Fashion, Fun & Philanthropy” fashion show, which resulted in 24 new Founders. She accepted the award at the FFW’s grants ceremony in May. 6
A retired DuPont manager and former co-owner of Fauxbulous FX Inc., Lynn now focuses on philanthropy. She is the chair of the Sussex County Advisory Committee for the DCF and serves on the DCF’s Board of Directors. She also is a member of the Delaware Family Law Commission, the Delaware Commission on Early Education and the Economy, and the board of the Harry K Foundation. “With Lynn’s leadership, the Founder growth in Sussex County has been phenomenal in the past six years, and Lynn has been instrumental in furthering the Fund for Women’s strategic plans for our statewide organization,” FFW Chair Michele Whetzel said. “She is one of our greatest cheerleaders, and we all admire her commitment to making Delaware a better place for women and girls.”
Investment Report By Rob MacGovern Written April 30, 2015
First quarter 2015 investment
By many metrics, U.S. equity valuations are high, especially in
markets exhibited increased
light of the increased pressure on corporate earnings caused by
volatility as the prospects for
the strong dollar, transportation disruptions on the west coast
aggressive quantitative easing by
and surprisingly weak consumer purchases (likely impacted by a
the central banks in Japan and
particularly challenging winter in the Northeast). Still, relative
the European Union led to very
to other available asset classes, equities offer the best hope for
strong equity performance in many
attractive returns over the next several years. Low interest rates
overseas markets.
and energy prices should support stronger investment and personal consumption all over the world, and we remain hopeful that
For U.S. dollar-oriented investors, these strong equity
stronger global growth will encourage employment growth, which is
returns were adversely impacted by currency losses, but
critical to sustainable future increases in equity prices.
the net result was still quite favorable (MSCI EAFE +4.9%). In the U.S., where the expectation is that years of unprecedented stimulus and quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve Bank is over and that interest rates are likely to rise later this year, markets were choppy and only modestly positive (S&P 500 +1%).
“Low interest rates and energy prices should support stronger investment and personal consumption all over the world, and we remain hopeful that stronger global
U.S. fixed income returns surprised many in the first quarter (Barclays Aggregate +1.6%) as weak economic data
growth will encourage employment growth,
led to revisions in projections for the timing of any rise in
which is critical to sustainable future
interest rates, and a growing consensus that the absolute
increases in equity prices.”
level of rates will likely stay low until there is clear evidence of some build up in inflationary pressures.
DCF’s portfolio return for Q1 was +2.2%, modestly higher than In the first quarter, DCF’s Investment Committee
the its assigned benchmark. Three- and five-year performance
concluded that the investment penalty associated with its
(6.7% and 6.9%) which is more relevant for most DCF fund
modest investment in commodities was too great relative to
participants exceeded the important 5% real return, as well as
the highly uncertain value of the protection this investment
the assigned Policy Index (benchmark).
was designed to provide against future inflation. Liquidation of this investment is being done in two steps, with funds redeemed being primarily reallocated to equities.
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Next Gen North More than 275 people turned out for this year’s Chips for Charity, the signature fundraising event of the Next Generation of Northern Delaware (Next Gen North). This year’s event, held at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, raised over $30,000 to support Next Gen North’s annual grants. Since its inception in 2004, Next Gen North has awarded more than $305,000 in charitable grants and established a growing charitable endowment at the DCF. The group currently focuses its grantmaking on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education programs in New Castle County.
Next Gen South Now just three years old, the Next Generation of Southern Delaware (Next Gen South) has made remarkable progress in its work to engage young philanthropists and serve the community in Kent and Sussex County.
Next Gen North member Adrian Farrar works with students at St. Michael’s School & Nursery. This year, Next Gen North gave St. Michael’s a $5,000 grant to buy Core Knowledge Kits for engineering, math, and science.
2015 Grant Recipients Next Gen North
Next Gen South, a group of 20- and 30-something philanthropists living and working in southern Delaware, raises money through several events, including its annual Chowdown for Charity, which was held in February this year at Baywood Greens Clubhouse in Long Neck.
First State Robotics, Inc.
$6,600
Kalmar Nyckel Foundation
$4,000
About 180 people attended the Chowdown, which featured a friendly culinary competition among 12 local restaurants. After tasting samples, the attendees voted the restaurant known as “a(.MUSE)” as the 2015 Chowdown for Charity Chefs Champion. The event raised about $15,000, with all proceeds going towards grants supporting children’s mental health services in Kent and Sussex.
Next Gen South
In addition to awarding $15,000 in 2015 grants, Next Gen South also opened its permanent endowment fund at the DCF this year with a $10,000 gift. By establishing an endowed fund, Next Gen South has ensured that the community will have a source of charitable resources for generations to come. 8
Photo by Ron Yabroff
Latin American Community Center St. Michael’s School & Nursery
$10,000 $5,000
Children & Families First’s Seaford House
$5,000
Delaware Guidance Services
$5,000
Delaware State University
$5,000
“We are particularly proud to have opened our endowment fund this year, because we want our work to make a long-lasting impact on our community,” Next Gen South President Jason Adkins said. “We look forward to raising even more through our fundraising events next year.”
Giving 101: Youth Philanthropy Board Each year, students representing almost every high school in the state learn about charitable giving through the DCF’s Youth Philanthropy Boards (YPB). This year, 16 students participated in the Kent County YPB, 25 in New Castle County and 16 in Sussex. Grouped by county, the students form three boards, and each is allocated a sum of money to allocate to worthy charitable causes in their communities. The students study youth issues in their neighborhoods and schools, select an area of focus, solicit grant applications, make site visits and select awardees. Delaware Guidance Services’ Christy Pennington accepts a grant from Kent County YPB members Serac McClenton (center), a Smyrna High School senior, and Andrew Stant (right), a Caesar Rodney High School junior.
This year, students awarded $35,000 to 13 nonprofits around the state.
2015 Youth Philanthropy Board Grants Kent County Focus area: Programs that provide counseling and support to victims of abuse or rape/sexual assault. Delaware Guidance Services – $5,000 200 additional individual treatment sessions for teens. Survivors of Abuse in Recovery – $3,000 22 additional sessions for Kent teens victimized by sexual assault/abuse and their families. People’s Place II – $2,000 Transportation assistance for 20 survivors of domestic violence in the form of gas gift cards, vehicle repairs, tires, insurance and bus passes. Sussex County Focus area: Programs that provide mentoring and/or tutoring to Sussex County middle and high school students to help improve their overall quality of life through interpersonal discussion and encouragement.
New Castle County Focus area: Mentoring programs focused on promoting healthy lifestyles for at-risk middle school through high school students and programs that provide extracurricular activities for middle school through high school students with developmental and/or physical challenges. Delaware Association for the Blind – $3,000 Camp Sunnybrook, a six-week summer day camp for blind and visually impaired children. Kingswood Community Center – $3,250 Kingswood Mentoring Program for at-risk middle and high school students. Leading Youth through Empowerment – $3,250 Training and tutoring of middle school students at Thomas A. Edison Charter School, to prepare them for high school.
Children & Families First – $2,500 A new dance/movement/music therapist at Seaford House to help teens express their pain and lead them comfortably into conversation to facilitate their healing.
Mom’s House – $500 Tutoring, life-skills/parenting classes and mentoring program for young parents.
Connecting Generations – $3,000 A part-time mentor coordinator at Georgetown Middle School, freeing the guidance counselor to recruit more mentors.
YMCA of Delaware, Western Family Branch – $2,500 Aquatic activities for youth ages 11-18 with intellectual and physical challenges.
Pathways to Success – $1,500 Five certified student mentors/tutors – 3 at Sussex Tech High School and 2 at Cape Henlopen High School – and train one site coordinator.
YWCA Delaware – $2,500 YWCA Girl/YWCA Ready program, which engages mentors to work with students who are first-generation college attendees.
Selbyville Middle School Peer Mentoring Program - $3,000 Transportation and reading materials for the Selbyville Middle School Peer Mentoring Program, which assists new immigrants and English Language Learners.
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Gift of Historic Property Will Benefit Delaware’s Future An elegant building stands in the core of downtown Dover, located at the intersection of Loockerman and State Streets. This vestige of Delaware’s history recently became a vehicle for a better future for Delaware when Richard and Andrea Barros generously donated the building to the Delaware Community Foundation to establish the Richard and Andrea Barros Charitable Fund. Built in 1865, the classical building was originally a pharmacy with a soda fountain where kids could run in and get Cherry Coke. When Richard bought the building in 1980, he had it refurbished into an office building and there founded the law firm Barros, McNamara & Scanlon. The Barros family has owned prominent properties on Loockerman Street for many years, including two family department stores, and Richard values his family’s tradition of serving Dover and the surrounding areas.
“My family has been involved with the community and with property on Loockerman Street for a hundred years, so I grew up in that tradition,” Richard said. “I chose to donate it to the Delaware Community Foundation because I know it has an excellent reputation for helping the citizens of Delaware.”
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“My family has been involved with the community and with property on Loockerman Street for a hundred years, so I grew up in that tradition,” Richard said. “I chose to donate it to the Delaware Community Foundation because I know it has an excellent reputation for helping the citizens of Delaware.”
After retiring, Richard and Andrea had plans to travel the world – on their bucket list were places in Europe, Asia, Australia. They didn’t want to be tied down by big projects like maintaining this historic building, but they did want to leave a lasting impact on the community.
By donating the building, Richard and Andrea benefit from valuable tax advantages while also establishing a permanent charitable fund that will support the community, immediately and for generations to come.
The Barroses found the best option was to donate the building to the DCF. The DCF has managed the sale of the building, and the proceeds have funded the Barroses’ new charitable fund.
Through their new fund, the Barroses will be able to recommend grants to the charitable organizations and causes they care about, in Delaware and around the world.
New Funds (Nov. 6, 2014-April 15, 2015)
Like Richard and Andrea, many generous people find creative ways to give back to the community without having to tap their savings. Real estate is a great way to do that, but some people choose life insurance policies, IRAs, valuable collections, precious coins or even works of art as ways to donate and fund their charitable projects. The DCF, an IRS-registered 501(c)3 nonprofit, has the expertise to help individuals and organizations manage these types of complex gifts while maximizing their tax advantages and charitable impact. “We want donors to know that there are different ways to give back to the community that don’t require you to donate directly out of your pocket,” said Bill Allan, senior vice president for southern Delaware. “The DCF does all it can to bring about positive change in Kent County and the rest of the state, but our efforts are only made possible through gifts from generous donors like the Barroses.”
The DCF has recently helped generous
/ donors turn an unused beach condo, an
aging commercial building, an unwanted warehouse and a $13 million apartment complex into charitable funds that will
benefit Delawareans for generations to
come. If you’re looking for a way to make a significant charitable gift, property or
other non-cash assets may enable you to establish your legacy without markedly affecting your finances.
Beverley V. Baxter Fund for Women’s Rights Richard and Andrea Barros Charitable Fund Candlelight Theatre Fund Martha Carper Youth Fund Communities In Schools of Delaware Endowment Fund Delaware Consumer Bankruptcy Pro Se Foundation Fund Delaware Economic Summit Fund Delaware Restaurant Association Educational Foundation Fund Dover Library Foundation Fund Domestic Violence Advocacy & Prevention Fund: In Honor of Carol Post Empowered Community Fund First Shore Fund Fork Branch Nature Preserve Funds Freida Dolby Fund The Pennsylvania Merchant 1733 Fund The Bruce Kallos Delaware Futures College Access Fund Trena and Robert Kelly Charitable Fund Kelly Family Scholarship Fund Lockwood Fund Marvel Fund Ministry of Caring Fund for the Future Mom’s House of Dover Endowment Fund Mary Jo Moore Scholarship Fund Elyse and Chad Moore Family Foundation Fund Nanticoke Rotary Endowment Fund Powders Trust Fund Postles Fund Quiet Resorts Charitable Foundation Fund Ann and Charles Rebar Memorial Fund Sam Miller Fund Carl & Doris Schnee Legacy Fund for the YMCA of Delaware Shattuck Fund Stop the Violence Prayer Chain Fund Swed-Sander Family Foundation Fund Taylor Family Fund Builder Timon Family Legacy Fund Robert Venables Legacy Fund Wilmington Community Orchard Project Fund Wilmington Skate Project Fund Zip Code Wilmington Fund To discuss opening a fund or planning your legacy gift at the DCF, contact David Fleming at 302.504.5224 or dfleming@delcf.org. 11 7
P.O. Box 1636 Wilmington, DE 19899
Non-Profit Org. US Postage P A I D Permit No. 912 Wilmington, DE
Welcome Rebecca Elzey! The DCF is pleased to welcome Rebecca C. Elzey as our new development director for Central Delaware. Rebecca, a Delaware native who resides in Clayton, will work in partnership with the CenDel Foundation to increase charitable resources in the Kent County area. Based in the DCF’s Dover office on Loockerman Street, Rebecca will also play an important role in the foundation’s increased emphasis on community knowledge and leadership. Before joining the DCF, Rebecca worked as the development specialist for the American Red Cross of the Delmarva Peninsula, where she managed major gifts, drafted successful grant proposals, and coordinated a fundraising team. She previously worked in various development positions for the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware, Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Connections Community Support Programs, and the Produce for Better Health Foundation. Rebecca graduated from Wilmington University with a degree in behavioral science. She has been a member of the Brandywine Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals since 2006 and is a current board member.