GO LEAD provides a series of workshops designed to address specific training and professional development issues related to non-profit management.

The scholarships are available  for one of these two workshop series:

• The Nuts & Bolts of Non-Profit Management; or
• Non-Profit Management in the 21st Century

Applications can be submitted online and the application deadline is 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010.

The program is open to any non-profit leader or manager of an organization that partners with the Community Foundation.

For questions or more information, e-mail Julie Leeth, Executive Vice President, or call (417) 864-6199.

The Hartville R-II School District established The Hartville Teacher’s Support Fund so that each teacher will have first day of school classroom funding. Hartville is a new Agency Partner in the education category.

The newly formed Hartville School Foundation established a fund to support the programs and projects of the Hartville R-II School District. The Foundation also becomes a new Agency Partner in education.

A group of Ozark women established the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Fund. Lisa Engel, Shirley Wikander, Linda Thomas, Ginger Holzer and Jeanette Hipskind established this fund to assist them as they hold fundraisers to help make the Ozark community a better place to live. This fund is part of the Finley River Community Foundation.

The Missouri Medical Assistance Program Fund will support the mission of the Missouri Medical Assistance Program to assist low-income individuals and families within the community who need  immediate assistance with their medical bills and debt. MOMAP is a new Agency Partner in the health category.

The Greater Ozarks Audubon Society established The GLADE Fund to support the GLADE project and student conservation projects of students who have participated in GLADE. This is the group’s second fund.

The Rotaract Club of Springfield Fund has been established to provide an endowment to support  charitable activities and programs in the area. Rotaract is the Rotary organization for members under the age of 30.

The new grantmaking programs include:

Metropolitan Springfield Red-Flag Response Grants – The Community Foundation will offer $225,000 in challenge grants intended to help support existing programs of Springfield area non-profits that address red-flag issues identified in the 2009 Community Focus Report for Springfield-Greene County.

Coover Regional Poverty Grants – This program will award grants to support new or innovative non-profit programs outside of Springfield-Greene County aimed at fighting rural poverty. These grants are made possible through the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation Regional Grantmaking Program, which is a partnership between the CFO and Commerce Trust Company.

Agency Partners Endowment-Building Grants – These grants, offered to the more than 350 non-profit agencies that partner with the Community Foundation, are intended to support efforts to plan, develop and implement endowment-building programs. These can be used for projects such as promotional materials, fundraisers, information/education programs and other awareness efforts.

The Rural Schools Partnership also has three grant cycles now open.

For more information on the CFO’s grantmaking programs, please e-mail Julie Leeth, Executive Vice President, or call her at (417) 864-6199.

Capacity Building Funds
OTC Foundation Restricted Fund
OTC Foundation Unrestricted Fund

The following funds have also been established with CFO and its affiliates through June.

Anita Barnes Memorial Scholarship – This endowed scholarship will provide renewable scholarships to students graduating from Oran High School attending a college/university or vocational/technical school who demonstrate financial need.

The Kitchen Capacity Building Fund – The Kitchen established this organizational fund to hold funds for their organization and its programs.

Bolivar Area Community Foundation

Hickory Grove Cemetery Endowment Fund – The Hickory Grove Cemetery Association established this fund for the public beautification and historic preservation of the Hickory Grove Cemetery in Polk County.

Truman Lake Community Foundation

Gerald Zumbrunnen Scholarship Trust – This scholarship in honor of Gerald Zumbrunnen awards to a Henry County graduating senior and that will attend an accredited public four-year college or university in Missouri.

The grants made available through this project will range in size from $500 to $1,500, using a peer review panel format for making individual awards. Applications for the Endowment Partners Endowment Building grants are due in the CFO office no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 8, 2008. The online application and additional information is available here.

Also, we are now in the process of developing the next series of presentations, and it is essential that we receive input from our partners about topics they feel would be helpful to them for future presentations. We’d like to ask you to visit our blog and post a comment(s) with your suggestions for future Essential Questions presentations. Click here to submit your suggestions.

Please, use the comment field below to submit your suggestions for topics in our Essential Questions series that would benefit your organization. Feel free to refer to past presentations if you’d like. We appreciate your input. Just click here to use and view the comments section.

The Arts Council’s special events have fueled the growth of area arts and cultural activities as a venue to bring these opportunities to a wider audience, as well as a useful fundraising device for the Arts Council and collaborating organizations. Each May, Artsfest occupies Walnut Street with a springtime celebration featuring the works of visual and performing artists along with arts and craft booths. It’s the Arts Council’s premier event. First Night Springfield offers family-friendly evening celebration to welcome the New Year. Along with these two community-wide celebrations, the Arts Council puts on a number of other events, either through collaboration or independently, that promote interest and generate support for a growing local arts scene.

“The Springfield Regional Arts Council, by offering leadership, training, and open communication, serves as an umbrella to arts and cultural organizations which ties in with its mission to develop, support, and strengthen these groups thereby making the arts available to all area residents,” says Sandra CH Smith, SRAC executive director.

The Arts Council has also furthered the cause of arts through a community-wide planning process. The Cultural Blueprint for the Arts was adopted in 1997. The plan featured a long term strategy for growing the arts community and incorporating the arts as “one of the building blocks of overall economic and community development.” The plan was recently revised and updated, and has been brought into the comprehensive Vision 20/20 plan for the continued development of Springfield and Greene County.

Part of that plan included creating a city hub for arts and culture. The arts community found its hub in a warehouse – more than one hundred years old – that was once home to the Springfield Creamery Company. The first phase of renovations at the Creamery Arts Center, a 35,000 square foot facility, were completed in October, 2005; although, the Arts Council and Springfield Regional Opera set up offices there before that date. Owned by the City of Springfield and located in Jordan Valley Park, the building also houses the Springfield Ballet, Arts Patronage Initiative, and the Community Center at Berry School. In addition to those offices, the building features ballet studios, classrooms, a costume shop, exhibition space, and additional studio space. Phase II of the Creamery renovations are now underway, thanks to assistance from Community Foundation of the Ozarks and private donors. This next phase will include new offices for the Springfield Symphony, additional classroom space, a library, a set building workshop, media rooms, and many other features.

As an Endowment Partner with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, the Springfield Regional Arts Council’s fund is an important part of the organization’s future plans to expand the role and impact of the arts in the community. The arts add much to the quality of life in any community by bringing people together, giving citizens a sense of pride and identity within their community, as well as positively impact the economy and enrich education. The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is committed to supporting the arts for these reasons.

“Arts and cultural organizations make our community a great place to live and work,” says Addy McCord, SRAC Education Director. “These organizations not only serve today’s audience, but are actively growing tomorrow’s.”

For more information about the Springfield Regional Arts Council, including a schedule of events and classes available, be sure to visit their web site at www.springfieldarts.org.

Last year, Big Brothers Big Sisters served 838 children throughout the region. “The program could easily serve more than 1,000,” reported Lisa Slavens, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters. But even more astonishing than the number of children served is the number of adults who volunteer. “It is a huge gift of time,” said Slavens.

An endowment partner since 1993, Big Brothers Big Sisters has three endowment funds held by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. One of these endowments, the Jake R. Piatchek Endowment Fund provides three to five $500 scholarships per year to a child who benefited from the mentoring program or to a mentor. Slavens believes the partnership between Big Brothers Big Sisters and CFO has been valuable to the organization.

“It’s nice to know the endowment is there when money is scarce,” said Slavens. “And all the education opportunities (provided by CFO) have been great.”

Fundraising doesn’t end with the endowment funds. Big Brothers Big Sisters will be hosting A New Taste, an adult evening to sample food from local restaurants in August. It will be held in the White River Room at Bass Pro, and features a live and silent auction. Last year the event raised $71,000 for the operating budget. It is funds like these that provide mentors with planned activities every month or two for their “littles,” as well as covering operations issues.

Though money is always needed and appreciated, Big Brothers Big Sisters also needs volunteers. There are 40-70 boys on the waiting list for Big Brothers at any given time.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a national organization serving children across the United States. Even with national ties, it still faces the same challenges of other nonprofits in the region. That is why she has confidence in CFO’s Endowment Partner program.

“Take advantage of what CFO has to offer. Use their expertise,” said Slavens. “Build your endowments through them; the investments are wise.”

Contributors’ wishes are always honored by the Foundation when discussing the designation of the distributions. These gifts can be distributed by the Foundation through various means including planned gifts, charitable gift annuities, gifts of real property, charitable remainder trusts, bequests, gifts of life insurance, gifts of retirement plan assets, charitable lead trusts, gifts of appreciated securities, gifts of personal property and donor designated gifts.

The Foundation for the Council of Churches of the Ozarks partners with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks through CFO’s financial management. President Richard Dunn sees this partnership as a prudent move. “It’s been a great partnership for us,” he said. “There’s a high confidence level.” The partnership of CFO and the Foundation helps to strengthen the non-profit sector of the area.

Gary Funk, Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ president echoed Dunn’s comments. “We truly appreciate the opportunity to partner with The Foundation. They are one of our larger nonprofit funds, and the Council of Churches of the Ozarks’ programs, which are supported by The Foundation, received many CFO grants from our community grantmaking program.”

The Foundation supports the different operating agencies within the Council of Churches of the Ozarks. A prime example is Daybreak, an adult day care that offers a medically monitored environment for elderly and disabled adults. CCO also supports Families for Children, a program that addresses issues with abused and neglected children through the foster care system, among many other local family-based programs.

The Foundation supports all operation costs through events such as the “Ozark Mountain Mule and Donkey Days” and the “Sporting Clay Shootout,” among other projects. Because of these events, the CCO portfolio is never used for operation costs.

Through its various beneficiaries, the Foundation continues to have a positive impact upon our local community. As said by Mr. Dunn, “We’re an institution in getting people where they want to go.”

The Foundation was established in 1999 and is chaired by Bill Darr with Don Wessel serving as Secretary/Treasurer of the organization.

Over 250 boys have completed the 18 to 20 month program, and it currently has 18 boys living at the Ranch.

“We have room for 28 boys but we don’t have the staff in place and the funding is not available for us to run at our highest potential,” Melissa Ortman, director of development, said.

Because Lives Under Construction is not funded by the government, the Ranch relies on donations and grants, like those received from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, to pay all expenses.

Operation costs, including but not limited to utility, gas, food and salaries, cost a minimum of $2,500 a month per boy, Ortman said.

Ortman said the biggest reward of being a part of Lives Under Construction is seeing the difference in each boy from when they arrive to the time they leave.

“It’s almost a night and day difference,” Ortman said. “We don’t have a dismissal policy, so nothing they do will get them kicked out. We aren’t going to give up on them. We have the opportunity to see them grow and change their behavior and attitude.”

Lives Under Construction Boys Ranch is located in the heart of the Ozark Mountains in Southwest Missouri. The Ranch was founded by Ken and Sheila Ortman in 1982 with the premise that because God created each person with a purpose, each boy who comes to the Ranch is worth saving and can develop to his full potential with God’s help.

On October 7, Lives Under Construction is hosting its annual open house at 11 a.m. with guided tours and presentations from the boys.

Lives Under Construction is hosting a planned giving seminar led by Mr. Thomas D. Peebles Jr., former chairman of the Board of Directors at Community Foundation of the Ozarks. He will be speaking on November 6 at the Big Cedar Lodge.

Everyone is invited to attend and asked to RSVP to Melissa Ortman at (417) 779-5374.