T GIVING BACK
#StrongTogether FOUNDATIONS AND PHILANTHROPISTS UNITE ON PANDEMIC AID by Cathy Chestnut
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OVID-19 was a fast-moving crisis from the beginning. True to form, Naples’ top foundations and philanthropists joined forces to provide immediate emergency relief to residents and operational support for many of the 440 local nonprofits that serve as Collier County’s social safety net. Responding to a disaster is not new for the Community Foundation of Collier County, which set up disaster relief funds for Hurricane Irma in 2017 and the red-tide crisis in 2018, and has become what Community Foundation President/CEO Eileen Connolly-Keesler calls “the community’s philanthropic first responder.” The Community Foundation’s board established the Collier Comes Together Coronavirus Relief Fund, which collected $1.5 million in donations. The fund was initially lifted by board member do-
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nations and a $350,000 gift from the Brynne & Robert Coletti Fund of the Farmer Family Foundation. It was a serendipitous surprise, Connolly-Keesler says, because it was the first time the Coletti Fund had contacted her organization, and it made a huge difference. “It helped us in fundraising in the early weeks,” she says. “That was a lifesaver for our community in many ways.”
EXPEDITING DOLLARS What’s remarkable about Collier County is the way the major foundations collaborate. The Community Foundation was in constant contact with the Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF), Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, and other Southwest Florida foundations to assess critical needs, avoid duplication, and coordinate response. The United Way of Collier and the Keys
was also actively involved in the response network. “There was a very coordinated effort in the region—it was huge,” Connolly-Keesler says. “The silver lining, if there is such a thing, was that as funders, we have developed tighter relationships, and that will continue on.” Foundations typically fund specific programs. As it became obvious that nonprofits’ financial resources were drying up, the grantors switched gears to provide funding for operating costs. The Schulze Foundation moved up its scheduled board meeting so it could immediately distribute approximately $3 million in grants, says Mary Beth Geier, the foundation’s Florida director. “Our board recognized that agencies may have greater needs and concerns outside of their general programs and we wanted to give them an opportunity to ask for funds in a different fashion so they could
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