The foundation awarded more than $330,000 in donor-advised grants and $36,000 in Whitefish Community Foundation grants in 2004. The cumulative grant history from 2000 to 2004 totals more than $921,000, given to 79 different organizations. The goal is to reach $10 million in charitable gifts and bequests by 2010.
"I feel that the first five years of the foundation have been extremely successful," said Stewart , president of the Community Foundation. "In the coming year, we plan to increase the number of donor-advised funds as well as contributions to our endowment fund."
Money comes to the foundation from donors, board members and organizations who deposit the money into donor-advised or endowment accounts. With donor-advised funds, depositors can make a recommendation as to who should get the money. With the endowment fund, the foundation invests the principal and gives away the interest to deserving companies.
"There are generous people in this community," Stewart said. "We have a pretty tight application process, we want to know where our money's going."
In the next couple years, the foundation plans to start some direct fund-raising, but Stewart is content with trying to build up the endowment fund at this point in time.
One way the foundation is trying to increase the endowment fund is through the Legacy Society, made up of people who give to the foundation through planned giving. This can be done with bequests through a will, gifts of trust, annuities, retirement accounts or life insurance.
Another way to donate to the foundation is through the Patron Ski Pass. The pass is fully-transferable and includes a private ski locker, daily preferred parking, unlimited use of the gondola and more. Donors purchase the pass through the Foundation, and the money is then donated by Big Mountain.
"We're hoping to help our community non-profits in many new ways," said Kramer, vice president for the Foundation. "We're touching a lot of lives."
This year's grant-giving ceremony will be held Dec. 15 at the O'Shaughnessy Center. Stewart wouldn't provide any figures to the Pilot, but says many thousands of dollars will be given away at the event.
As a service to non-profits in the region, the Foundation held a grant-writing seminar last June. More than 30 organizations from Whitefish, Kalispell, Libby and other areas came to gather advice and experience from Kris Myer, a consultant from Seattle.
"People make a lot of silly mistakes because they don't know," Stewart said. "The ability to write a good application is a way to get to the top of the (grant) list."
At the seminar, Myer critiqued grant applications from every organization and gave advice on how to make them better. Stewart says thousands of foundations give out grants every year, and he wants area non-profits to have their fair share of the money.
The foundation tries to conduct an educational seminar every year for area non-profits because a lot of them don't know where to start or where to get money. The Foundation is there to help them get through that initial period of uncertainty.
Other seminars the Foundation has held over the past five years include board development and strategic planning classes. A new program organizers are planning is a non-profit resource committee.
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