LCF NEWS FROM PRESIDENT BARBARA BARTLE
WINTER, 2014
B I L L A N D M A R I LY N C I N TA N I U S E L C F T O H E L P W I T H T H E I R FA M I LY P H I L A N T H R O P Y Although Bill is not a Nebraska native, the Cintani family was raised in Lincoln and all of the children currently live here. Bill said “I have come to appreciate the enormous impact the local community can have on the quality of life and the success of your family. We felt it was important to help continue to make Lincoln a great place to live and raise our families. We decided to work with the Lincoln Community Foundation because they are dedicated to that mission.” Bill and Marilyn Cintani established five Charitable Checkbook donor advised funds at the Lincoln Community Foundation. One fund is for them and a fund was opened for each of their four children. Since they were beginning their philanthropy a little later in life, they thought it would be good to help their children to develop an interest in, and knowledge of philanthropy at a younger age. This will make them more effective in making an impact for their own generation. Bill shared “Since I am not a nonprofit professional, I do not have a lot of experience with the ever changing needs of the community
“I am just getting started in the field of philanthropy,” said Bill. “Most
or a lot of contact with the philanthropic community. The Lincoln
of the current research shows that efforts in early child development
Community Foundation has provided a means to be exposed to the
will have the greatest long term impact. In addition, I am learning
most critical needs in Lincoln and they also act as a partner for other
about ways to leverage our efforts and contributions so that even
philanthropic opportunities. I think the Charitable Checkbook is a
though we may not be a large player, we may be able to play a more
valuable tool. It is the most flexible vehicle I have found to reach as
significant role in achieving some success. I have been impressed
many people as possible. Our Charitable Checkbook fund allows us
with the leadership of the Lincoln Community Foundation and
to accumulate multiple years of donations from our family foundation
believe they are the right organization to help with our personal
in order to make more significant gifts. We can make charitable gifts
mission of making Lincoln a better place to live and raise a family."
over a period of years, on our own time frame.”
215 Centennial Mall South Suite 100 Lincoln, NE 68508 402.474.2345 www.lcf.org
JEFF RAIKES: PHILANTHROPY IS A JOURNEY More than 150 donors and fam-
own child with a birthday party. The mothers didn’t know it was
ily foundations joined the Lin-
Michaela – she was simply the “secret birthday pal” who would
coln Community Foundation to
drop off supplies. Michaela ran this program all the way through
celebrate family philanthropy at
high school and it’s something that helped her understand her
a special dinner at the Lincoln
good fortune and responsibility to help others.
Country Club on November 25. Jeff Raikes, CEO of the Bill & Me-
A strategy Jeff and Tricia used to build values in their children was
linda Gates Foundation, was the
to get them involved in community service at an early age. They
keynote speaker.
Jeff Raikes, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
did not want family wealth to distort their children’s sense of entitlement. These service experiences helped shape their under-
Jeff leads the Gates Foundation efforts to promote equity for
standing that many others are not as fortunate and they learned-
all people around the world. Jeff and Tricia Raikes founded the
how to use their gifts to do good things for others, to serve and
Raikes Foundation, focused on helping young people reach their
give back to the community.
full potential. Jeff stated that philanthropy is inclusive and it encompasses evIn his keynote Jeff said, “I believe philanthropy is a journey, and I’d
erything from improving education to supporting veterans and
like share a bit about ours. The mission of Tricia’s and my founda-
their families, to building better communities and preserving our
tion was sparked more than 10 years ago by a young girl. Middle
great state’s history. He said, "Whatever your philanthropic pas-
school often felt like an exercise in survival for her. There were
sion, what brings us all together is a shared desire to make the
those days when she was bullied and excluded. She couldn’t
world a better place."
figure out how to fit in. Those signals made her feel there was something wrong with her. It had an impact on her self-esteem. It
Jeff went on to say, "As philanthropists, we all have the potential
was hard for her to see the extraordinary gifts she had to give to
to transform the lives of thousands of people in Lincoln or in the
the world. She went on to high school, a healthier environment,
Midwest, and even millions of people around the world. What ex-
where she found her voice and tapped into her academic poten-
cites me most about philanthropy today is that we’re not stand-
tial and passion for helping others.”
ing still. We are finding new ways to measure our impact. We are sharing best practices. We are getting better at what we do.”
That young girl – now a young woman – was Jeff and Tricia’s oldest daughter, Michaela. She is 26. She has a master’s degree from
"Philanthropy is about discovering new ideas, new people and
Stanford University and is now a high school history teacher who
new places. It’s about taking risks. Ultimately, philanthropy is
is positively impacting lives of all of these kids in her class. Mi-
about discovering yourself."
chaela’s experiences made the Raikes want to get serious and smarter about how to help youth. In middle school, Michaela became very involved in a community service project working with kids at the Sacred Heart Shelter in Seattle. There was a list of the kids’ birthdays but the shelter and the children’s mothers did not have the funds to put on birthday parties. Birthdays were important to Michaela and she was determined to do something to help. Michaela started bringing in birthday supplies to the mothers a few days ahead of each birthday so that they could have the resources to provide their Barbara Bartle, Jeff Raikes, Carl Sjulin, Board President
LINCOLN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION BUILDING CELEBRATES 50 YEARS IN 2014 In 1963, Lincoln Foundation president Al DuTeau called the Lincoln Foundation Board of Directors together to announce a most extraordinary gift. He presented Frank Woods who announced that the Woods Charitable Fund, Inc. was making a gift of $1.35 million to purchase the land and erect a new building at 15th and N Streets to be known as the “Lincoln Center for Community Services." The Lincoln Foundation was asked to serve as owner of the building with the understanding that space be leased to nonprofit organizations. Today, the Lincoln Community Foundation Building at 215 Centennial Mall South serves as headquarters for a variety of community organizations and the Lincoln Community Foundation which owns and manages the five story building. In addition to office space which is leased to nonprofits for “below market” rates, the building provides two conference rooms free of charge to any community nonprofit organization. The Foundation Garden is situated to the west of the building and is open to the public as a downtown oasis for relaxation, brown-bag lunching, summer concert series and enjoyment. We invite you to join us as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the building and the wonderful vision of Frank Woods and his family. By making a gift of $50, or even $500, you will continue the spirit of Lincoln Forever. These gifts will not fund bricks and mortar, but will be gifts for the Lincoln Forever Fund with the purpose of continuing the vision of investing in the needs and opportunities of our community for generations to come.
Lincoln Community Foundation received the 2013 Funder Award for its role in establishing the Veterans Administration Food Pantry. Grants helped the VA start a monthly food Lincoln Community Foundation, Mayor Chris Beutler and the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce hosted a community reception to welcome two new foundation Executive Directors; Jeff Kutash with the Peter Kiewit Foundation (middle) and Calvin Sisson with the Suzanne and Walter Scott Foundation (2nd from right).
distribution as well as an on-site pantry. The Foundation was also recognized for providing funding for Project Homeless Connect for the past two years. This one day event provides free health and personal services for homeless people in need.
G R A N T S AWA R D E D
DONORS
LINCOLN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION AWARDS MORE THAN $645,000 TO
These discretionary grants were
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS IN NOVEMBER
made possible by contributions to
The Lincoln Community Foundation distributed more than $550,000 in grants to 137 nonprofit organizations based upon the direction of generous donors who established designated funds at the Foundation. These grants were directed to the donor's specified education, human services, healthcare, religious and other nonprofit institutions. The Lincoln Community Foundation also awarded grants from our discretionary grant funds to eleven nonprofit organizations, totaling $95,000. The grants are made possible by contributions from the Lincoln Forever Fund and from a number of LCF donor endowment funds. Organizations that received funding include:
the Lincoln Forever Fund and through generous gifts to the following Lincoln Community Foundation donor endowment funds: Frances James Fund Jane Hines Fund Asa & Mabel Waters Fund Cecil & Irene Wadlow Fund Florence Clark Fund
Child Guidance Center - $10,000. Implementation of the Electronic Health Record database.
Harold and Alice Eberhard Fund
Foundation for Lincoln City Libraries - $10,000. Feasibility study for a new downtown library.
Neil Bean Fund
Friends of the Haymarket Theatre - $7,000. School outreach of the play “Anne & Emmet.”
George & Ineze Hannan Fund
Friendship Home of Lincoln - $10,000. Funding for a Substance Abuse Specialist. Good Neighbor Community Center - $10,000. Support for Food Distribution Program. LUX Center for the Arts - $5,000. Arts programing for cancer survivors and senior citizens.
Wayne & Wanda Lillich Fund Richard Thoene Fund Sheila Dickinson Dinsmore Graf Fund Esther Gehle Fund
Mourning Hope Grief Center - $8,000. Children’s grief support program.
Josephine Koudele Fund
Nebraskans for Civic Reform - $5,000. Funding to support Veteran Leader Corps workers.
Kenneth Good Fund
NeighborWorks Lincoln, Inc. - $10,000. Capital support for establishing a permanent headquarters.
Helen Clough Fund
Provider’s Network Inc. - $10,000. Immigrant and refugee childcare provider training.
Jennings & Beulah Haggerty Fund
Tabitha Inc. - $10,000. Support of Meals on Wheels
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