SPRING 2017

A report for donors, friends and the Northeast Florida community

C.A.M.P. Osprey Gives Wings to Putnam KidsGasp! A flock of geese plunged over a handful of wide-eyed Mellon Elementary School students on the University of North Florida campus in early December. It was one of many firsts for the 4th and 5th graders from Palatka, a Putnam County town that is an hour by car but a world away from UNF. Thanks to a grant from the Frank V. Oliver, Jr. Fund at The Community Foundation, the kids were in C.A.M.P. Osprey, a collegiate achievement mentoring program, founded and overseen by Dr. Matthew Ohlson at UNF. For weeks, the Mellon students had been video-chatting with their UNF counterparts, who encouraged them to ‘think big’ about their futures, and suggested strategies to help them succeed in college and the workforce. Now, they had a chance to meet their mentors in person on campus.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

2 Donor Spotlight: Carolyn Hall

3 David Engdahl Wins Art Ventures Award

3 2016 Highlights

4 Supporting Neighborhoods

5 Relief Fund Update

6 Philanthropic Leadership

8 President’s Letter

When their big day arrived, the Mellon students were ‘dressed for success’ courtesy of The Community Foundation and J.C. Penney. Dr. Ohlson, his colleagues and a member of the Swoop Squad led the way as the students and Mellon Principal Joe Theobold toured campus, ate lunch in the Osprey Café, and played in the UNF sports facilities.

The students were excited to hear about STEM careers during a tour of the Biological Sciences building, but it was the personal connection to their mentors that they remembered most.

“My mentors gave me information I need,” young Azzareya Jackson said afterward. “I liked learning about leadership and setting goals by ‘beginning with the end in mind.’”

The C.A.M.P. Osprey experience was made possible by the legacy endowment of Frank V. Oliver, Jr., a successful Palatka businessman who generously arranged to support organizations helping Putnam County citizens with issues of health, hunger, veterans’ services, education and poverty. The Community Foundation conducts competitive grantmaking on behalf of his fund each spring for grants to begin mid-year. For more information, contact MarkLeMaire@jaxcf.org.

1 | The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida

The CAMP Osprey experience is a ‘win-win’ opportunity for our collegiate mentors and their ‘mentees’ from Palatka. The support from The Community Foundation brought these two ‘communities of leaders’ together and empowered them to learn strategies to become college and career ready. Dr. Matthew Ohlson

Carolyn HallNortheast Florida is home to some very high profile philanthropists, but there are many donors whose giving occurs below the publicity radar. Like Carolyn Hall, who retired as the head librarian at the UF Borland Health Library in 1995. Her brother passed away soon after, and she started thinking about what would happen to her assets after she was gone.

“I knew I wanted to do something to honor my parents —they sacrificed so much for me and for my brother,” said Carolyn as she reflected on creating her donor advised fund at The Community Foundation in 2000.

Carolyn grew up in Attalla, Alabama where her father was the superintendent of the local water board and her mother was a homemaker. It wasn’t until much later that Carolyn realized just how much they sacrificed so that she and her brother could have what they needed to succeed.

“I was aware of The Community Foundation because the Borland Library had an endowment there, and my financial advisor was impressed with the leadership of the Foundation,” she remembers. “So we created the Iva and Gene Gray Memorial Endowment in memory of my parents.”

Carolyn is interested in the environment, with an emphasis on preservation and restoration of habitat, recreation and enjoyment. She’s also sensitive to the needs of animals, and anticipates using her donor advised fund to support like-minded organizations.

An endowed fund ensures that the philanthropy attached to Carolyn’s parents’ names will continue to grow; she’s arranged for her estate to be added to the endowment after her death.

For now, she enjoys retirement and gives back by volunteering for Meals on Wheels, content in knowing that she’s made sure her parents’ memory will be memorialized forever.

DONOR SPOTLIGHT:

It was important to me to create something that would last. Carolyn Hall

SP

RIN

G 2

017

| G

IVIN

G F

OR

WA

RD

2 | The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida

DAVID ENGDAHL CHOSEN FOR 2ND ANNUAL ANN MCDONALD BAKER AWARD

Architect and sculptor David Engdahl received The Community Foundation’s Ann McDonald Baker Art Ventures Award. The award, which includes a $10,000 unrestricted grant, recognizes an artist whose work brings distinction to Northeast Florida, and is named for the late Ann McDonald Baker, whose leadership helped create and nurture such vital cultural gems such as The Community Foundation’s Art Ventures Fund, the Arts Assembly (now the Cultural Council) and Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, among others. The award was presented at a private reception in February.

A sculptor since 1971, Engdahl has exhibited works in more than twenty states, including nine solo exhibitions. In Jacksonville, countless residents and travelers have seen his signature high-flying wooden sculptures, ‘Ascent’ and ‘Descent,’ which were suspended above the escalators at Jacksonville International Airport from 1980-1989; they now reside at Florida State College at Jacksonville’s South Campus. His 2004 installation, ‘Migration of the Paper Airplanes,’ hangs over the moving sidewalks at the Jacksonville International Airport parking garage. Engdahl has generously contributed his artistic vision to numerous community endeavors for decades. Currently, he is spearheading the downtown Haskell Sculpture Initiative, comprised of ten major sculptures privately funded by Preston Haskell and other community philanthropists.

artventuresSupporting the Arts in Northeast Florida for 25 Years

THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

2016 HIGHLIGHTS

David Engdahl with his daughter and members of Ann McDonald Baker’s family in front of his laminated wood sculpture, Axial Split Vessel (1999).Left to right: Missy Boney, Kirsten Engdahl, David Engdahl, Martha Baker, Tom Baker. Photo credit: laird/blac palm, inc.

David’s breathtaking artistry, combined with his generosity of spirit and commitment to the local arts community, made him an outstanding candidate for the Ann McDonald Baker Art Ventures Award.Nina Waters, president of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida

$43MILLION GRANTS MADE

+8%INITIAL INVESTMENT RETURNS

68% of Assets Endowed

$344MILLION TOTAL ASSETS

$61MILLION IN NEW GIFTS

84%GRANTS STAYED IN N.E. FLORIDA

OF

The Community Foundation is pleased to announce our re-accreditation with National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations.™ We have been continuously accredited since 2006, affirming that we have met or exceeded the most rigorous benchmarks in philanthropy. In short, we meet the highest standards for local giving.

• $432,000 in Grants

• 391 Members

• 46 Legacies

• New Research Focus

512 TOTALFUNDS36 NEW

FUNDS

• $215,000 in Grants

• 32 Families

• $115,000 in Grants

• $50,000 Incoming Grant from Funders for LGBTQ Issues

www.jaxcf.org | 3

DID YOU KNOW?www.wganefl.org

www.jaxcf.org/learn/beaches-community-fund

www.lgbtnefl.org

More than three dozen local nonprofit organizations have endowed funds here at The Community Foundation. Barnabas Center, Douglas Anderson School for the Arts, Florida Theatre, Museum of Science and History, and World Affairs Council are just a few of the nonprofit organizations that have chosen to establish endowments here that will provide funds to their agencies in perpetuity. Some of the additional benefits of having an agency endowment at The Community Foundation include:

» Your endowment will be invested within our larger Investment Pool, benefitting from professional investment management and economies of scale that create greater opportunity for growth and earnings at reduced cost.

» Your endowment makes a distribution to your organization at least annually, providing a permanent income stream that can be distributed or reinvested.

» We track all contributions and pledges to the fund, issuing receipts and acknowledgments for contributions to donors.

» We handle all the accounting and financial reporting, as well as annual audits; there is continuous oversight by our Board of Trustees and Investment Committee.

For more information, contact John Zell at jzell@jaxcf.org or (904) 356-4483.

After more than a year of research, community engagement and planning, The Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees has approved a multi-year initiative designed to provide support for four Jacksonville neighborhoods. While we are still learning, we believe these four neighborhoods—New Town, Northwest Jacksonville, Eastside and Arlington—have unique challenges and opportunities that might benefit from various resources we may be able to provide or leverage.

Choosing New Town, Northwest Jacksonville, Eastside and Arlington as the pilot neighborhoods was based on data showing that these neighborhoods had significant challenges in key asset areas, but already had leadership organizations, engaged residents, and a resident-defined plan.

The work in 2017 will focus on supporting the neighborhoods and their leadership, and building knowledge that can be acted upon and shared.

We are also working with the City of Jacksonville, which has a newly appointed Neighborhoods Department Director, and a number of other funders who are potential collaborators in this work: the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, United Way, LISC, and the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida. It’s expected that our first grants for work in these neighborhoods will be made later in the year.

PROJECT KICKOFF:

SUPPORTING NEIGHBORHOODS

SP

RIN

G 2

017

| G

IVIN

G F

OR

WA

RD

4 | The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida

Representatives of coordinating organizations include (front row, left to right): Alan Margolies, Jewish Federation of Jacksonville; Dr. Sherry Magill, president, Jessie Ball duPont Fund; Mayor Lenny Curry, City of Jacksonville; Melissa Nelson, executive director, United Way of St. Johns County; Nina Waters, president, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida; Victoria Raleigh, Red Cross Regional CEO; and Michelle Braun, president and CEO, United Way of Northeast Florida.

www.jaxcf.org | 5

IN 2017, WE WILL FOCUS ON:

KEY PARTNERS

INITIAL PRIORITIES

• COJ Neighborhoods Department• LISC• Jessie Ball duPont Fund• United Way of Northeast Florida

• Support COJ Neighborhoods Department

• Support collaboration among key organizations and key funders

• Neighborhood organizations

• Help organizations grow their leadership, skills and best practices

• Support collaboration across communities

• Trustees/staff• Donors• Partner organizations

• Enhance understanding of pilot neighborhoods and the support available to them

• Deepen knowledge of best practices

FLORIDA’S FIRST COAST

RELIEF FUNDHOMEOWNERS AND BUSINESSES PREPARE FOR HURRICANES, BUT DID YOU KNOW PHILANTHROPY PREPARES TOO?

The Community Foundation, along with United Way of Northeast Florida, United Way of St. Augustine, the Jewish Federation of Jacksonville, and the Jessie Ball duPont Fund were already working on a Disaster Philanthropy Plan when Hurricane Matthew grazed our shores last October. Suddenly, our ‘just in case’ was ‘just in time.’ We quickly put a system in place to collect donations specifically for helping nonprofits assist hurricane victims or those damaged themselves.

The fund was seeded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund which contributed a total of $450,000 of the $660,000 raised. Now, there is a tested mechanism in place for generous donors to respond quickly with donations to any crisis in our community.

UPDATE:

We are really just beginning on this journey, which will be led by the neighborhoods themselves. We are looking to those citizens who are already working and invested in strengthening their communities for guidance as to how we can best support their efforts.

Deborah Pass Durham, chairman of The Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees

Supporting Leadership

Building Knowledge

Supporting Neighborhoods

NORTHWESTPopulation: 14,118

NEW TOWNPopulation: 2,079

EASTSIDEPopulation:

2,329

ARLINGTONPopulation: 42,663

COMMUNITY COALITIONEASTSIDE

NORTHWESTJACKSONVILLE

CDC

NJCDC

LONG TERM GOALS

SUPPORTING NEIGHBORHOODS

Support neighborhoods’ abilities to build the assets

they need to be healthy and provide a good quality

of life for residents

SUPPORTING LEADERSHIP

BUILDING KNOWLEDGE

Strengthen the ability of public, private and nonprofit leaders

to support neighborhoods with leadership, resources,

knowledge and sound policies

Improve TCF stakeholders’ and public’s understanding

of neighborhoods’ assets and challenges, and the best strategies

for supporting neighborhoods

JACKSONVILLE LANDING

EVERBANK FIELD

THE 2017 CLASS OF THE WEAVER

PHILANTHROPIC INITIATIVE IS UNDERWAY!

The ten members of this year’s class are following in the footsteps of dozens of

up-and-coming philanthropists who’ve become educated and more confident as philanthropists

because of the program’s offering. The Community Foundation has been nurturing potential

philanthropists for nearly 20 years, periodically offering them the opportunity to learn more about

our community’s needs, and how to maximize their charitable giving. For more information, go to

www.jaxcf.org/weaver-philanthropic-initiative.

THE WOMEN’S GIVING ALLIANCE IS 15 YEARS OLD!

WGA is The Community Foundation’s oldest giving circle, and it has succeeded beyond any of the founder’s expectations. Five courageous women—Ann Baker, Doris Carson, Helen Lane, Delores Barr Weaver and Courtenay Wilson—convinced scores of smart, savvy women to pool their resources so that they could focus their collective grantmaking on improving the lives of women and girls in Northeast Florida.

Since then, WGA has made grants of more than $4.9 million and has a legacy endowment of nearly $3 million. Today, WGA’s nearly 400 members are led by President Ellen Wiss. They are focusing their efforts on Breaking the Cycle of Female Poverty: Intervention and Prevention.

For more information about WGA, go to www.wganefl.org or contact Joanne Cohen, jcohen@jaxcf.org or (904) 356-4483.

WGA 15th Anniversary

www.jaxcf.org | 76 | The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida

SP

RIN

G 2

017

| G

IVIN

G F

OR

WA

RD

THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION’S

PHILANTHROPIC LEADERSHIP

HARRELL, SISISKYJOIN BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Welcome to Barbara Harrell and Richard Sisisky, who began their three-year term on the Board of Trustees in January. Barbara is a long time community volunteer and will be serving on our Programs and Initiatives Committee. Richard is president/owner of the Shircliff & Sisisky Company, and will serve on our Investment Committee.

We bid a fond farewell to Bill Brinton and Chuck Hyman, whose final terms on the Board of Trustees ended in 2016. Both Bill and Chuck were extremely valuable trustees, and we are grateful they have agreed to continue to serve on committees of The Community Foundation going forward.

DONORS FORUMOF NORTHEAST FLORIDA

Our Donors Forum had the opportunity to hear first-hand from Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry (pictured) and his Director of Strategic Partnerships, Dawn Lockhart, recently. This newly created position was the product of conversations started through Donors Forum more than two years ago during the last mayoral campaign. It grew out of a desire to help develop a shared agenda between funders, the nonprofit community and City Government.

Through a shared funding agreement, Lockhart was hired to be the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the City of Jacksonville. She talked about the progress with efforts to unite government and private philanthropy, and her perspective on how this initiative is gaining momentum.

Ellen Wiss, President, Women’s Giving Alliance

Congratulations to this year’s Weaver Philanthropic Initiative class! Back row, left to right: Marshall Hill, Glenn Miller, Doug Tutwiler, Blair Sherman, Dan Foley. Front row, left to right: Jason Spencer, Alison Trager, Brent Trager, Kirsten Martino, Ben Setzer.

MYVILLAGE PROJECT COMMUNITY FUND

Eight local nonprofits received grants of $1,000 each from the MyVillage Project Community Fund, a giving circle at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.

These are the first grants made by the Fund, which was created by Imani Hope, Ronnie King and Darryl Willie to support nonprofit organizations led by African Americans and serving primarily African American clients. The grants were announced during the MyVillage Project Community Fund’s Black History Month celebration.

WGA HOSTSNATIONAL FORUM

WGA hosted a very successful Women’s Collective Giving Grantmakers Network National Leadership Forum this month. Instrumental in planning and execution were (left to right): Jill Arnold, Martha Baker, Paula Liang, Kristi Brandon, Sheila Collier, and Dale Clifford.

Pictured are representatives of the Teen Leaders of America with Darryl Willie (far left) and Ronnie King (far right.)

245 Riverside Ave | Suite 310 Jacksonville, FL 32202

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE PAIDPERMIT NO. 1678

JACKSONVILLE, FL

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Phone: (904) 356-4483Fax: (904) 356-7910Email: info@jaxcf.org

www.jaxcf.org | 8

A prospective donor once asked me why we charged a 1% administrative fee when ‘all we do is write checks.’ Yes, we do write checks and those checks are written on behalf of very generous donors. But we do so much more to achieve our mission—Stimulating Philanthropy to Build a Better Community. During just one recent week, we:

» Held two Board committee meetings (Investment and Finance) ensuring that we are effective stewards of the assets entrusted to us.

» Led three giving circle leadership team meetings with volunteers (WGA, My Village Fund and LGBT Community Fund).

» Convened a Beaches Community Fund grantmaking meeting to consider grant recommendations for the second year.

» Assembled a panel of nonprofit practitioners to present the needs of the community and the pros and cons of collaboration to the Weaver Philanthropic Initiative class. Weaver PI identifies and brings together emerging philanthropists to learn about community needs and create a personal charitable giving strategy.

» Convened two Professional Advisory Council meetings (St. Augustine and Downtown/Jacksonville) with presentations on Socially Responsible Investing.

» Hosted two meetings for nonprofit organizations holding endowments with the Foundation—one with agencies in the TCF Investment Pool and one with agencies in a Custom Managed Pool. We brought in each group’s Investment Advisor for an in-person update on their endowments.

» Planned and executed a presentation on the benefits of introducing cultural programming to children under age three. More than 25 early childhood and arts agencies attended to hear a speaker on Baby Theatre, sponsored by the Chartrand Foundation and planned and implemented by our staff.

» Met personally with Senators Rubio and Nelson in Washington to advocate for the philanthropic and nonprofit sector.

Oh, and back to the prospective donor who thought all we did was write checks—between Monday and Thursday of that week, we processed 64 grant checks totaling $821,405! If you'd like to know more about what we do for and on behalf of donors, we'd be happy to talk with you.

Nina Waters, President

A LETTER FROM OUR

PRESIDENT

STAFFNina Waters, President

Grace Sacerdote, CPA Executive Vice President & CFO

Janet Allen, Grants Payable, Accounting Clerk

Erin Broderick, Senior Investment Accountant

Monica Brown, Program Assistant

Teri Calinao, Donor Services Manager

Joanne Cohen, J.D., VP, Philanthropic Services

Amy Crane, Program Director

Yan Cumper, CPA, Controller

Susan Datz Edelman, VP Strategic Communications

Christina Fleck Executive Assistant to the President

Amber Jubinsky, Fund Accountant

Carol Nieves, Grants Manager

Katie Patterson, MPP, Program Officer

Kathleen Shaw, M.Ed., VP, Programs

Latrice Wright, Administrative Assistant

John Zell, VP, Development

BOARD OF TRUSTEESDeborah Pass Durham, Chairman

Ryan A. Schwartz, Chairman-Elect

Martha Frye Baker

Dr. Solomon G. Brotman

Peggy Bryan

The Honorable Brian Davis

Michael DuBow

Barbara Harrell

Robert E. Hill Jr.

Paul I. Perez

Madeline Scales-Taylor

Richard Sisisky

Dori Walton

Tracey Westbrook

Jim Winston512 FUNDS

$344 MILLION IN ASSETS

$43 MILLION GRANTS IN 2016