Location Fort Collins, Colorado Key people Ray Caraway
President | Area served Northern Colorado Website www.nocofoundation.org | |
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The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado is an independent philanthropic organization that serves the Northern Colorado community including Berthoud, Estes Park, Fort Collins, and Loveland.
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What is a Community Foundation?
A community foundation is a reliable, permanent nonprofit organization working in a specific geographic area to manage a collection of charitable funds. Donations to the funds are tax-deductible and grants from the funds are distributed to nonprofits, schools, and churches. Community foundations offer a service that facilitates and encourages charitable giving. Donors can quickly and easily establish their own fund to support causes and organizations they care about—both now and far into the future. Community foundations also serve a unique leadership role by bringing people and resources together around important local issues.
About
The Community Foundation operates by charging a modest annual fee on the funds it manages—typically around one percent. By pooling funds, the Foundation creates efficiencies and keep overhead expenses low. This allows the staff to focus on helping donors do more with what they have to give. The Community Foundation is a convener of people and ideas, a clearinghouse for information, and a respected caretaker of community resources. No other organization in Northern Colorado has such a dynamic network of relationships with donors, nonprofits, and community leaders. The Community Foundation’s work to strengthen and sustain Northern Colorado keeps them connected with and accountable to Northern Colorado residents—past, present, and future. Every resident of Northern Colorado benefits from the legacy and strategic planning of previous generations.
Hundreds of individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofit organizations have established funds at the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado.They entrust their resources—in the form of cash, real estate, stock, estate gifts, and more—to the Community Foundation and depend on it to be the long-term steward of these assets. The Community Foundation's board of trustees and professional staff operate in compliance with National Standards for Community Foundations, the nation’s highest philanthropic standards for quality, integrity, and accountability. These standards serve as both a blueprint for internal organizational development and a tangible set of benchmarks for external demonstration of operational excellence in six key areas: mission, structure, and governance; resource development; stewardship and accountability; grantmaking and community leadership; donor relations; and communications.
History
In the fall of 1975, the City of Fort Collins, Colorado was a small college town of approximately 60,000 people on the verge of major growth. The mayor and other city leaders were making plans to turn the Lincoln Junior High School building into what is known today as the Lincoln Center. There was a need for a nonprofit organization to collect charitable contributions for the creation of the new Lincoln Center. During the same time, a local Fort Collins resident, Mrs. Olive Ludlow, left a $25,000 bequest for a purpose that was unclear – a community foundation would be an appropriate vehicle to receive the gift as well. With a few phone calls from the mayor, the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado was born.
Initially, the foundation was called the Fort Collins Community Foundation before expanding to serve a greater Northern Colorado region. The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado grants out millions of dollars each year and has grown to more than $70 million in assets.
Community Foundation of Northern Colorado initiatives, funds, and projects
Community leaders and donors have used the Community Foundation as a platform to launch and fund new initiatives such as UniverCity Connections, Homeward 2020, FortZED, the Veterans Plaza of Northern Colorado, and the Rialto Bridge Project. Memorial funds, large and small, have been established to carry on the memory of loved ones. The Community Foundation serves as the infrastructure for community projects like Inspiration Playground and as the platform for launching new nonprofits like Project Smile and CHAMP.