Tribute to Pat Bard

Pat Bard, a wife, mother, grandmother, business-woman, travel agent, teacher, and friend, passed away on May 21, 2010.  Her husband of 53 years, Doug, visited with us recently to establish the Patricia A. Bard Nursing Scholarship Fund to honor her memory.  They had talked of a scholarship fund in the past, and, toward the end of her fight against cancer, together chose the field of nursing as the focus.  While Pat's career involved the world of business and travel, she and Doug both experienced first-hand the impact that caring, well-trained nurses can make. The scholarship fund in her name will make an impact, too, on the opportunities available to nursing students.  

To learn more about our friend Pat Bard, you can read her life story.  

$4M Gift From Unnamed Donor

Foundation Receives Largest Gift

An out-of-town physician with deep family ties to Muskegon is supporting the restoration of Muskegon Lake by creating a new $4 million fund at the Community Foundation for Muskegon County.The unnamed donor created the foundation's Fund 2012 at the end of 2009. The $4 million gift is the largest ever received by the foundation. The Foundation, which received its first donation in 1971, had grown to $112 million at the end of last year.

The donor established Fund 2012 after lengthy research and investigation, according to foundation President Chris McGuigan. The strategy is to make a significant impact by spending the funds by 2012, with a majority of the grants expected to be focused on Muskegon.

Read the May 28, 2010 story in the Muskegon Chronicle here.

Tribute to Rose Smith

Rosaline M. Smith, a former Treasurer for the City of Muskegon, passed away on Monday, April 12, 2010.  She and Darrell Smith, a longtime employee of the Muskegon Post Office, cared deeply for each other and shared  more than 50 years of marriage. Music was something they loved and had very much in common. In 2005, Rose created the Darrell H. and Rosaline M. Smith Fund to honor her husband, who passed away in 1999, and to provide a helping hand to graduating seniors of any Muskegon County HS who have demonstrated academic achievement and will pursue a music degree.

Rose was a very special person who brightened our world.  To read her life story, click here.  

Bequest Bootcamp

As a followup to the annual Organization Endowment Breakfast, the Foundation development staff invited nonprofit representatives to a live webinar on Wednesday, March 17.  "Bequest Bootcamp - 10 Exercises You Can Do To Strengthen Your Bequest Program" was presented nationwide by Karen Gallardo, Senior Director of Gift Planning and Major Gifts at the AARP Foundation, and viewed locally in our boardroom.

As he left the presentation, Jim Reynolds of St. Paul's Episcopal Church commented "Great information - thanks for inviting me!" In a group discussion following the webinar, both Susan McGarry of Harbor Hospice and Marian McDermed of Big Brothers Big Sisters stated that there were a number of practical ideas that could be implemented right away. "The important thing here is that all of the area nonprofits need to be on message," said Bob Chapla, our VP Development.  "Bequests from individuals like Charles Hackley, the most prominent Muskegon philanthropist, to Ruth Skwarek, a quiet school teacher, have made a tremendous difference in the quality of our lives here today.  Promising to make a gift from your estate when you no longer need it - and telling the organization you're giving it to - is something most of us can do."

The Foundation development team plans to offer additional opportunities for area nonprofits to gather and learn while sharing ideas and strategies.  

President's Message

February, 2010

Dear Friends: 

We entered 2009, holding our breath, having just budgeted a $250,000 reduction in revenues from 2008’s budget. For the first time ever, we accepted a deficit budget, deciding this definitely was a rainy day to be covered by the reserve fund we had built up over many years of saving. In January, February, and part of March, the market continued down below even our most conservative predictions, and we decided to cut our budget some more. We spent the first two months working out issues we never had to work out before: underwater funds with multi year commitments, exercise of variance power, comparisons of investment performance, advice, and service of consultants. We asked questions we never had to ask before:  Should we hold more cash to cover our grant obligations and protect against further investment losses? What’s the best way to tell a grant committee it has no money to grant?  What projects can the YAC do in lieu of making grants? To many donors we asked: Will you fund your scholarship commitments with new gifts?
 
We became more resourceful and creative; producing an unusual and superb annual report for a fraction of the previous year’s cost. We attended conferences using scholarships from other Foundations. We teleconferenced and webinar-ed instead of traveled, and held meetings at 4 p.m. so we didn’t have to buy lunch. We looked for grants, and formed partnerships to jointly fund grants and share costs. None of all that was so hard and we learned we should do it even in a good year.

2009 was a stand out year for our portfolio’s investment return (+28%, ending the year with total assets of $112M), but because it followed 2008’s 30% drop, (we began that year with total assets of $124M and fell to $88M by year end) our celebration was muted.  Throughout 2009, freshly educated by 2008, we examined our investment programs, policies, approaches and advisors. In October, we voted to hire Consulting Group of Farmington Hills, MI as our new investment advisor.

As grantmakers we learned $88 million is still a lot of money, even if it is the same $88 million we saw five years ago, and three years before that!  And like the loaves and fishes in the miracle, the grant money we had in 2009 was enough for 2009. 

For the competitive grants, we searched our funds for every available dollar, and had lots of conversations with grantees.  Non-profits scaled back, put ideas on hold, and stretched resources.  Donor advisors and living donors really shined in 2009, providing gifts that propelled our entire community upward against the depressive force of 2009’s economy.  Among them were the Witham Fund’s grant to create McLaughlin Grows, the Eklund Fund’s grant to make the FCPA lean and green, the Turner Fund’s gift of Charles Hackley’s life size bronze seated at the Culinary Institute of Michigan (CIM), and the Olthoff Fund’s gift of a beautiful Street Stage on the Third Street Promenade. And Match Day, when the entire community responded to the challenge brought by 2009 and placed a corporate “Bless you” on Muskegon’s non-profits.

Overall, even accounting separately for Match Day numbers, giving to our funds in the first three quarters of 2009 was amazingly generous in our scary economy. Given that the fourth quarter sometimes accounts for 40% of our total yearly gifts, we were expecting a decent year. Then, in the fourth quarter we got one of those calls that remind us of the fantastic delights of this business, and told us we would have a very decent year for gift totals, an exciting 2010, and many benefits for the community in the years to come.

All in all 2009 was a thrill ride; one that we entered reluctantly, but one that we exit joyfully, ready for the next ride, and honestly declaring, “That was amazing!”