Keeping up with the times by Beth Maiden

Just as soon as I have a handle on what I think is the very latest in technology, I learn that I know nothing at all. 

We have been working diligently to upgrade our website with blogs, video, and audio in an effort to keep up with the times and expand a website visitor’s experience.  Our latest conquest has been to add a Flickr page with a photo library.  And I’m considering a MySpace page for our Youth Fund.  This is, of course, in addition to our current ways of communicating which includes emails, newsletters, events, and our annual report.

Today, as we were overcoming our issues with photos, my boss informed me of Second Life and how other nonprofit agencies were actually making products and money through participating in this virtual world.  Frankly, it’s a bit too 2001 Space Odyssey  for me. I’m still baffled by watching Robert Downey Jr. assemble Iron Man with a virtual toolbox and workbench.

We’ll figure it out, though, as this Foundation is committed to spreading our messages using as many mediums as possible.  I suppose that I need to start picking out my Avatar ….

Update from the Women’s Fund from Clare Cygan Young

     The Women’s Fund, established in 1991, has gone through a needed rejuvenation of sorts since the beginning of 2004.  They appreciate the work the founding sisters contributed and are committed to continuing their important work.  Currently the Women’s Fund Committee consists of eighteen dedicated women of the community who meet monthly.  These women are passionate about finding and creating ways to educate our Lorain County community about the important issues and concerns of our women and girls and the services needed in our community to better serve this 50% of our population. 

     They are also creating ways to encourage philanthropy and to build endowment for the Women’s Fund.  Last year the Women’s Fund added funding to three programs: Save Our Children, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Little Lighthouse Learning Center.  The committee is eager to review new proposals in June and to once again add funding support to selected programs, in particular for women and girls.

The women on this committee strongly believe that women give of themselves and give financial support to expedite change, rather than to preserve the status quo.

 

     Currently the committee is working on two separate activities.  The first is a $25,000 challenge issued to us by a very caring women’s advocate in our community.  They are reaching their goal slowly, but the committee is working diligently every day and believes they will meet that challenge by the end of May.

The second activity is a friend/fundraiser to be held on Sunday, May 18^th from 1:00pm to 5:00pm at the Avon Lake Public Library.  This is another one of the committee’s “Power of the Purse” events.  This is a spa and relaxation day event which will include a brunch, fashion show, workshops, presentations and demonstrations and all around the theme Purpose, Power, Pamper and Passion. 

 

     The women of this committee are very serious about their contributions and they believe, unique to women, that giving to a cause should be fun, with creative opportunities and celebrations.

Investing in Tomorrow

My husband and I were driving through downtown Lorain last Sunday, and he commented to me, “Beth, this area looks as bad and run-down as it did when we were kids.”  I can’t disagree with him — as an Elyria girl, Lorain was always a big mystery to me.  It was lacking in most activity, other than the International Fesitval Parade, while Elyria, in comparison, with all of its county offices, seemed pretty lively.  Granted, we were both too young to remember either city in its glory days, but we’ve heard the tales of shopping and dining on our local city streets instead of at the mall.

This conversation really led me to thinking about the work that we do here at The Community Foundation, which is really investing in the county’s future.  It’s difficult to see the immediate impact of a $20,000 grant to a Main Street organization, yet we have faith that this agency’s work and planning will pay off.  We work with donors on planned gifts that will most likely occur both after their deaths and the termination of our employment with the Foundation.  Yet, they have faith in our organization and in Lorain County that their contributions will be put to good use. 

The truth is, there have been improvements made all over Lorain County. You just have to dig a bit to find those treasures.  The construction of a new Lakeview Park and the Black River Landing are playing on Lorain’s second largest asset, it’s waterfront on Lake Erie.  I think that we’re all hoping that these investments will spur more.

Lord Orrery once said, “Trees are the best monuments that a man can erect to his own memory.  They speak his praises without flattery, and they are blessings to children yet unborn.”   I feel this way about our work.  What we do not see today will make an impact tomorrow.

Hello world!

Most people have a misconception that giving money away is easy, especially when it’s not your own.  Here at The Community Foundation of Lorain County, 11 staff members work at least 40 hours per week giving away nearly $4 million annually and continually raising and investing funds so that we’ll have even more to give away.

This blog is the staff’s way of helping to clear up some of the myths about grantmaking and foundations.  You’ll read perspectives, hopefully, from all angles about dealing with the public, donors, nonprofit agencies, and everyone else all the while striving to make Lorain County,Ohio, a better place.