Jefferson County Community Foundation: Celebrating 10 Years

Making a Difference at Home, Today and Tomorrow

Celebrating

YEARS

OF LEADERSHIP IN COMMUNITY GIVING

identifying needs Philanthropy is…

Community foundations are tax-exempt public charities serving people who share a common interest – to bring together the financial resources of individuals, families, and businesses to impact lives, solve problems, and plan for the future.

Community Foundations:

• Evaluate and respond to community needs and opportunities • Bring together people of shared interests • Work toward an improved and sustainable future for future generations • Support and educate local nonprofit organizations • Provide tax-advantaged investment opportunities for individuals and corporations

Gift by gift, grant by grant: A decade of growth and giving M ost community foundations are born with a nest egg— $10 million is typical—bequeathed by a single wealthy donor. A big first gift pays all the start-up costs and pretty much guarantees success.

In Jefferson County, though, nobody died and left a bundle of cash. Instead, back in 2005, a small, dedicated group decided to build a foundation from scratch. They’re people many of you know, like Carol McGough, Brent Shirley, Bruce

& Teri McComas, Mike and Jane Henery, Tim Caldwell, Anne and Dick Schneider, David Goldsmith, Cindy Finnie, Kris Mayer and Gary Kennedy, who wrote the first check.

Gift by gift, a few thousand dollars at a time, those visionary founders and those of us who came along a bit later have built the foundation from zero to $1.3 million in assets. Along the way, JCCF has distributed more than $600,000 in grants to nonprofit programs.

Today JCCF manages a

variety of charitable funds, including the Jefferson County Community Endowment (our core fund), donor advised funds, the Fund for Women and Girls, scholarship funds, Giving Circles, and funds that support specific nonprofits.

As community foundations go, JCCF is still small. But at 10 years, we have supported the arts, health care, education, nutrition, housing and basic services for those most at risk.

JCCF supports

Cover photo courtesy of the Port Townsend Marine Science Center

arts & culture • environment • education • community development • youth services health & human services “Our grandchildren aren’t old enough to understand what a community foundation does, but they already know how good it feels to share. By supporting JCCF, Kathe and I hope to set an example they can follow when they grow up.”

Herb Cook

Board Ambassador & former JCCF Board President Donor Advised Fund Holder

2 • JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

finding solutions

“In its first ten years, the Jefferson County Community Foundation has granted over $600,000 to community nonprofits and scholarship recipients.

And we are just getting started!”

Carol McGough founding board member

H

“There is an old Chinese proverb that says ‘The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second best time is now’.” Jefferson County Community Foundation was started 10 years ago with a vision towards the future. Thirty, 50, 100 years from now, this foundation will still be here. We will be gone, but our work and and our vision will live on.

It is both inspiring and humbling to be part of something as important as Jefferson County Community Foundation.”

- Carol McGough (center) with friends Donna Ehrenreich, Kathy Ulwelling, Pam Bernard and Teri McComas.

MISSION

Jefferson County Community Foundation (JCCF) is dedicated to strengthening our community both now and for future generations through engaged philanthropy by: • Serving as a catalyst and resource for community building • Providing an efficient philanthropic vehicle for individuals, corporations and organizations with a desire to make a lasting and positive contribution to the community • Supporting local nonprofits • Awarding grants that will have a deep impact on the welfare of our community

ow about an independent community foundation in Jefferson County? At first that seemed a daunting task. Would local residents and nonprofit organizations contribute enough seed money? Could it meet the stiff IRS requirements to qualify as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization?

Fortunately, two Port Townsend residents with years of experience in foundation and philanthropy work came to the rescue. And “Founding Investors” stepped up, each pledging $10,000 toward start-up costs.

By 2005, enough money was raised to satisfy the IRS requirements. The Jefferson County Community Foundation (JCCF) was a reality.

“The Community Foundation was started a decade ago by community leaders getting together and asking ourselves, ‘How can we best benefit future generations?’

Today we see the results!”

Brent Shirley Founding Investor

2005-2015 • CELEBRATING TEN YEARS • 3

supporting nonprofits An alliance for a stronger future A

n important part of the mission of the Jefferson County Community Foundation is to assist and strengthen other local nonprofits. Through the Nonprofit Alliance, JCCF offers networking sessions and workshops for nonprofit leaders to increase knowledge and become more effective and efficient.

That “capacity building” goal is a key reason I accepted an invitation to join the board of the community foundation. Essentially it means increasing knowledge, improving behavior and creating systems that result in stability, financial success, effective communication, accountability, collaboration – anything that helps an organization accomplish its mission. An example: Kris Becker, executive director of Jumping Mouse, a nonprofit that provides counseling to children, attends Nonprofit Alliance activities regularly and encourages her staff and board to participate. She describes her team as “collaborative, growing in strength and expertise, clear on goals for the next two years.” Even during the recession, Jumping Mouse reported stable funding. The group won a grant from a JCCF Giving Circle, then executed a special challenge campaign to match those dollars and leverage future giving.

Result: more children healing from traumatic situations.

The impact of every dollar donated to JCCF is multiplied through the activities of the Nonprofit Alliance.

Liesl Slabaugh JCCF Secretary

Liesl Slabaugh and daughters Opal and Louise.

“As my twin daughters begin their first year of college on the East Coast, my awareness of the true value of ‘local’ is heightened. Their childhood in Jefferson County was so nurturing because of how well community members really knew them over the years. As JCCF turns ten years old, I am similarly grateful for a local community foundation that knows its nonprofits and the people of Jefferson County. Donors can feel good knowing their funds are being directed locally and knowledgeably.”

Gates Foundation brings “Lean Thinking” to local nonprofits

Lynne Herer Smith, Deputy Director, Investment Workflow for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, discusses effective planning with Meredith Wagner, Director of the Jefferson County Library, during a JCCF Nonprofit Alliance workshop, “Lean Thinking in the Philanthropic World.”

4 • JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

ABOVE: Over 70 people attended the Lean Thinking workshop, representing 25 organizations.

LEFT: Aiko Bethea and Jessica Hoffman, Gates Foundation staff, join JCCF Board member Earll Murman in celebrating the success of the Lean Thinking workshop.

A

Centrum, The Boiler Room, and Key City Public Theatre are among local organizations that have received JCCF Grant Makers’ Forum grants.

Grant makers’ forum educates nonprofits

E

ach year, local nonprofits are invited to apply for a grant from the JCCF Community Endowment.

Before the deadline, applicants attend the JCCF Nonprofit Alliance’s grant writing workshop for some coaching on how to write a strong proposal.

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In addition to the annual grant writing workshop, the JCCF Nonprofit Alliance offers other sessions on fundraising, volunteer management, board development, and nonprofit legal issues. A schedule can be found at jccfgives.org/nonprofitalliance.

42,000

$6,000 grant from the JCCF’s Community Endowment made possible a 6-week equine therapy program for 12 children with disabilities and other disadvantaging conditions.

Camp Beausite, on 50 acres of meadows and forest near Beausite Lake, about two miles south of Chimacum, has provided educational, therapeutic, and recreational services to adults and children with disabilities for 25 years.

In addition to equine programs, the camp in 2014 offered 77 campers swimming, fishing, arts and crafts, archery and evening entertainment.

The goal of “Horse Partners” is to expand the program to more people with disabilities, including wounded veterans. With the support of JCCF’s Community Endowment, Camp Beausite is demonstrating that horseback riding offers real physical, sensory, cognitive, emotional and behavioral benefits.

Community Endowment Grants Awarded

“In my opinion, one of the best things the Jefferson County Community Foundation does is pull together the various organizations in the non-profit community and provide opportunities for greater professionalism and effectiveness in the accomplishment of their mission.”

Ned Luce

JCCF vice president B.J. and Ned Luce on a family ski vacation.

2005-2015 • CELEBRATING TEN YEARS • 5

matching passion with purpose Fund for Women and Girls: an area of interest fund

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he Fund for Women and Girls is a voice, amplifying the most pressing issues impacting women and girls by engaging donors and other partners to invest in solutions to the challenges they face. When women and girls thrive – we all prosper.

The Annual Fund for Women and Girls Wearable Art Show drew nearly 1,000 attendees in 2015, growing the endowed fund to over $300,000. The fund has made grants to Port Townsend Marine Science Center’s GIRLS (Girls in Real Life Science) project for high school girls

studying science; Port Townsend Library’s Women in Transition course for women returning to work or working for the first time; Olycap’s Basic Shelter for Homeless Women; and a Dove House/Clemente course on financial management in cooperation with Kitsap Bank.

The 2015 Wearable Art Show raised over $40,000 for the Fund for Women and Girls.

6 • JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Debbi Steele, as chair of the Fund for Women and Girls Steering Committee and Wearable Art Show, has energized and inspired hundreds of people to join the mission to improve lives of women and girls in our community.

The Fund for Women and Girls’ 2015 grant was awarded for the Port Townsend Marine Science Center’s Teen Project, designed to increase girls’ involvement in science and math.

“Having the honor to participate on the grant committee, I now can see clearly that the grant money that is awarded by the Fund for Women and Girls is done with careful consideration, much discussion, and a process that allows fairness and consensus.

I believe that the organizations that have received the grant money are delivering empowering and life-giving programs to girls and women in our county.”

Molly Klupfell FWG Steering Committee

The Fund for Women and Girls encourages girls and young women to join its community efforts. Alana McCleese (left) and Molly Force were the first teens to

The Port Townsend Marine Science Center staff receive the good news that their Teens Project (Teens Envisioning & Engineering New Solutions Program) is the 2015 Fund for Women and Girls $4,000 grant recipient. The project draws on female mentorship and provides exposure to community issues and problem-

solving processes.

join the Steering Committee.

2005-2015 • CELEBRATING TEN YEARS • 7

pooling resources

Giving Circles U

nite with like-minded people who want to pool their charitable resources to address the needs of our community. Giving Circles provide social and educational benefits for members as they share hopes and visions for our community, research community needs, and make collective decisions. It is a participatory

process that strengthens the lives of all involved.

Jefferson County Community Foundation provides for the management of funds and support of the circles’ activities so that Giving Circle members can spend their time on what they love best: making a difference in our community!

How Can I Start a Giving Circle?

Students at Quilcene School work in their garden to grow vegetables that go directly to their cafeteria for school lunches. The foundation’s GC3 Giving Circle provided

a $10,000 grant in 2015 to help the school expand the garden.

$

79,000

Giving Circle Grants

Gather a few friends and neighbors who want to learn more about local nonprofits and community needs, and who wish to leverage their financial contributions by pooling their resources. Then call the JCCF office, and staff will help you get started!

The “GC3” Giving Circle formed in 2014 and awarded its first grant of $10,000 to the Quilcene Garden to Cafeteria program. Members include: Back Row, L to R: Mary Rothschild, Kris Morris, Eileen Cooney, Nancy McLachlan, Herb Cook, Grace Dumenil; Front Row, L to R: Mara Lathrop, Judith Dickison, Julie Gertler,

and Lisa Painter.

“The Jefferson County Community Foundation has brought together donors who now, after participating in Giving Circles, understand the power of researching and understanding community needs to make informed and leveraged philanthropic decisions.”

Anne Schneider

founding board member & JCCF Ambassador

8 • JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Port Townsend Film Festival, Jefferson County Farmers Markets, Key City Public Theatre, and Habitat for Humanity are organizations that have received Donor Advised Funds through JCCF.

Donor Advised Funds “Having a donor advised fund makes our giving easier. It offers all the benefits of individual gifting with the added support of philanthropic conversations and logistical expertise.”

Martha & Libby TrolinAtkins

D

onor Advised Funds at the Jefferson County Community Foundation are growing, and for good reasons. DAFs, as they’re known, allow donors to guide the charitable uses of their gifts years into the future, while offering tax benefits immediately. Here’s a DAF primer: Q: Is starting a Donor Advised Fund complicated?

A: No. Completing the agreement establishing your DAF shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes.

Q: How much money does it take?

A: JCCF requires a minimum initial contribution of $10,000. Recently, fund balances in the foundation’s six DAFs have ranged from $20,000 to $200,000.

Martha and Libby TrolinAtkins.

Q: May I withdraw the money if I change my mind?

A: No. Your gifts to a Donor Advised Fund are irrevocable charitable donations.

Q: Will the foundation preserve my gift forever?

A: That’s up to you. You can make your DAF endowed (permanent) or non-endowed (temporary). Distributions from endowed funds are limited in order to preserve their capital. Non-endowed funds may distribute their entire balances over time.

$

472,925 Donor Advised Funds

2005-2015 • CELEBRATING TEN YEARS • 9

creating legacies The Jefferson Legacy Society:

“Thank you, JCCF, for the scholarship! I’m looking forward to my freshman year at Western Washington University, and I appreciate your support.”

investing in our future

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hen asked what ‘legacy’ means to them, many people think first of family – raising children well, passing wealth on to future generations, educating grandkids. A broader definition includes long-term support for causes we believe in. In the charitable world this is known as ‘planned giving.’

One way to create a lasting impact locally is to join the Jefferson Legacy Society by including JCCF in your plans. You can make a bequest to support JCCF’s operations, add to the foundation’s permanent Community Endowment, support an area-of-interest fund such as the

“Planned giving may involve large gifts and complicated legal structures, or simple plans and modest sums.”

Jack Pokorny

Scholarship Recipient

Doug Van Allen JCCF Treasurer

Fund for Women and Girls, or fund a scholarship.

Studies have shown that families with shared charitable intent create more connection from generation to generation and tend to preserve family wealth over longer periods. What better way to be remembered.

D

eborah Belezos Johnson was a woman of athletic energy, wry humor, searching intellect, high integrity and a get-it-done outlook.

The Deb Johnson Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund honors her tireless efforts to promote eduJack Pokorny, a 2015 Deb Johnson cation in Jefferson County.

Endowed scholarship recipient and Deb, who passed away in 2011 Port Townsend High School graduate. from pancreatic cancer at the age of 55, made a deep impact on those who knew her, for years or for an hour. receive Deb Johnson Scholarship She continues to make an impact on grants through the Jefferson County the lives of high school students who Community Foundation.

“As a visual artist myself, I was delighted to sit on the Barbara Marseille Art Scholarship Committee Board for several years to help young people advance their artistic pursuits. Self expression and artistic exploration can require a great deal of courage. I hope that the recipients of this scholarship fund understand that we are rewarding them for taking a chance to believe in themselves and their artistic excellence.”

– Lucy Hanson

“The Jefferson County Community Foundation is about supporting the community through philantropy to meet the needs of current and future generations.”

Earll Murman JCCF director

$

23,750

in JCCF scholarships 10 • JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Board of Directors

Laurie Liske Director

Bruce McComas Ambassador

Earll Murman Director

Karen Nichols Ambassador

Kris Nelson President

Ned Luce Vice President

Doug Van Allen Treasurer

Liesl Slabaugh Secretary

Kate Burke Director

Roger Hagan Director

Anne Schneider Ambassador

Staff Carla Caldwell Executive Director

FOUNDING INVESTORS John Barrett & Anne Burns Sharon Black Caldwell Family Debbie Reid Gigi Callaizakis & Steve Moore Administrative Dr. & Mrs. Kennith Carter Assistant Bill & Sue Conklin Herb & Kathe Cook Anne Dean Malcolm Dorn Grace Dumenil Hugh Ferguson Alice Hayes Joe Finnie Accounting Cindy Hill-Finnie Rocky Friedman David & Teresa Goldsmith Estate of Christiane Bradford Hale Matthew & Tara Henery Mike & Jane Henery Bonnie Kellog & Steve Fetter Jane Kopriva Suzanne Lagoni Carla Main & Brad West Kristin Manwaring Insurance Assoc.

Herb Cook Kristina Mayer Ambassador Bruce & Teri McComas Carol McGough Kathleen Mitchell & Scott Landis Jon Muellner & Carrie Andrews Kristen Nelson Henry & Karen Nichols Cindy Hill Finnie Stig Osterberg Satterberg Foundation Ambassador Martha & Loretta TrolinAtkins Schneider Family Fund Sam & Berry Shoen Brent Shirley Liesl Slabaugh David Goldsmith Debbi Steele & Dennis Daneau Josh & Keely Stranahan Ambassador Quimper Foundation Doug & Nancy Van Allen Vince & Mary Ann Verneuil David & Ruth Whitney Scott & Jennifer James-Wilson

Board Ambassadors Linda Herzog Director

Jill Landes Director

Rose Lincoln Director

Carol McGough JCCF Founder and Communications Manager

JEFFERSON LEGACY SOCIETY Anonymous (3) Sharon Black Tim & Carla Caldwell Judith Chambliss & Allan Zee Grace Dumenil Estate of Christiane Bradford Hale Gary Kennedy Kristina Mayer Carol McGough Dick & Anne Schneider Deborah Steele and Dennis Daneau Doug & Nancy Van Allen Suzanne & Dieter Wassmer FUNDS HELD BY JCCF Anne Lee Donor Advised Fund Barbara Marseille Endowed Arts Scholarship Fund Dr. & Mrs. H. Kennith Carter Designated Fund Herb & Kathe Cook Donor Advised Fund Deb Johnson Endowed Scholarship Fund Fund for Women & Girls Max & Sherry Grover Artists’ Donor Advised Endowment Fund Jefferson County Historical Society Barbara Marseille Endowment Fund Jefferson County Community Foundation Endowment Fund Jeffferson County Technical Trades Endowed Scholarship Fund Sy Kahn Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund of Key City Public Theatre Northwest Maritime Center & Wooden Boat Foundation Historical Sustainability Endowment Fund Port Townsend Public Library Foundation Restricted Endowment Fund Sonchen & Jock Patton Donor Advised Fund Bill & Margaret Taylor Donor Advised Fund Martha & Libby TrolinAtkins Donor Advised Fund University Women’s Foundation Scholarship Fund Verneuil Donor Advised Endowment Fund

2005-2015 • CELEBRATING TEN YEARS • 11

modeling partnerships

JCCF and UGN leverage local resources

Innovation and a Culture of Learning United Good Neighbors and JCCF seek ways to connect resources and needs, encourage community partnerships, and create opportunities to learn and teach. Through our partnership, we model effective use of community resources and synergistic programming.

We practice what we preach. Through grants, programs, and cultivating nonprofit leadership, we seek to be increasingly effective, strengthening the social fabric of Jefferson County.

About our Partnership UGN and JCCF formed an innovative partnership in 2012 to more effectively serve the community of Jefferson County through our distinct but aligned missions.

While UGN helps to fund local health and social service programs, JCCF is dedicated to strengthening our community through engaged philanthropy. Together, we serve as a catalyst and resource for community building.

Swan School students participate in the 2015 UGN Day of Caring.

Leadership comes from working together to develop, inspire and achieve a shared vision.

Please consider supporting JCCF by: establishing a Donor Advised or an Area of Interest Fund; joining the Jefferson Legacy Society; starting a Giving Circle; contributing to an existing JCCF fund; or joining the JCCF Board of Directors in making a year-end contribution to the foundation by donating online at www.jccfgives.org. – Kris Nelson, JCCF President

WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER!

JCCF • 201-B West Patison, Port Hadlock, WA 98339 • 360-385-1729

JCCF marks 10 years with professional development grant awards In honor of our 10th Anniversary, JCCF awarded special professional development grants for nonprofit leaders in Jefferson County. The following organizations received their awards in May, 2015: • Habitat for Humanity of East Jefferson County to offset expenses of a three-month sabbatical for long-time Executive Director Jamie Maciejewski: $2,500.

• Port Townsend School of Woodworking for Development Director Sarah Zablocki-Axling, to take courses in Principles and Techniques of Fundraising, and Webinars through Grant Space and to attend Philanthropy Northwest Local Matters 2015 Gathering: $2,500 • Horse Partners for Program Manager Mary Craft to attend the 2015 Professional Association of Horsemanship International Conference in Bozeman, Montana: $1,650 12 • JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Habitat for Humanity received a Professional Development Grant to support a sabbatical for its Executive Director. Here, UGN Day of Caring volunteers help out at a Habitat work site.

• Key City Theatre for Box Office Manager and Volunteer Coordinator Parham Barber to enroll in an online program for certification in Volunteer Engagement: $200