Community Foundation of the Ozarks

For more than a year, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and The Marlin Company have been working on bringing a new type of fundraising platform to nonprofit agencies in the Ozarks. We’re excited to announce that this project, named Cause Momentum, has finally launched.

Patterned after popular sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, Cause Momentum seeks to harness the power of the Internet and social sharing to raise significant sums through many small donations. It is also intended to reach donors who prefer using credit cards rather than their checkbooks, and like to support specific needs and projects.

The opportunity is only available to nonprofits affiliated with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. During this initial test (or Alpha) period, seven Springfield and regional agencies have posted a variety of projects – new e-books for Nixa’s school library, digital sound for Moxie Cinema, a device to make root canals a little easier at Children’s Smile Center, dental hygiene kits for Fordland kids, a sensory room to support autistic kids for Arc of the Ozarks, a software program for Ozark Greenways’  growing bike community, and a traveling kitchen to teach kids how to cook locally grown produce.  During our Beta period, sometime after the first of the year, the site will be more robust in both projects and features.  If you are a nonprofit agency partner of the CFO and want to know more about Cause Momentum and how it could work for you, please click here.

Here’s how it works: You can go to CauseMomentum.org right now and take a look. The site is interactive: It shows donations coming in in real time, and lets you see just how much a donation of a certain size would help the project toward its goal. If you don’t feel moved to donate (yet), you can always share a project near and dear to your heart on Facebook or Twitter; sometimes passing the message on is as powerful as making a donation. For your convenience you can make your donation via credit card or through the PayPal or Amazon payment portals.

As with Kickstarter, at the end of the project period the project either makes its goal or does not. When you make your donation, you have the option of giving that amount whether or not the project hits its ultimate goal. If you do, the agency will still receive those funds, no matter what. If you choose not to give regardless, and the project does not make its goal, that money will remain in your Cause Momentum account to donate to another project, now or in the future.

Click here to learn more about how Cause Momentum works, including the tax benefit and notifications.

Finally,  please remember that this is an Alpha launch, and there will be a number of things we tweak, both during and after the project-donation period. Feel free to drop us a line about your Cause Momentum experience, or to let us know of problems, here.

Every Friday, we share the news of new groups and individuals choosing to make philanthropic gifts and investments in their community. You can read more about types of funds available at CFO here. Click here for a full list of non-profit Agency Partners. For more information on fund types and how to get involved, contact Winter Skelton at wskelton@cfozarks.org.

Art Feeds Endowment Fund – This fund will help provide long-term funding as Art Feeds works to heal and develop creativity. This is a component of the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri.

Art Feeds Fund – This fund will assist Art Feeds as it mobilizes creative healing and encourages creative development. They are a component of the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri.

Christian County Historical Society Fund – The Christian County Museum & Historical Society established this fund to hold short-term monies for the organization. This is a component fund of the Finley River Community Foundation.

Christian County Homeless Alliance Fund – This fund will support services for the homeless in Christian County. This is a component fund of the Nixa Community Foundation.

Hermann Area District Hospital Auxiliary Fund – This fund will support the general needs of the Hermann Area District Hospital. This is a component fund of the Community Foundation of the Hermann Area, Inc.

Sullivan School District Memorial Plaza Fund – Sullivan School District and Foundation established this fund to support the memorial plaza entrance for the high school sports complex.

More than 60 CFO affiliate presidents and board members attending today’s annual conference in Springfield were encouraged to think expansively about the leadership and resource development roles they can offer as anchors in their communities.

They shared stories of successful collaborations fostered through listening to their communities and convening the right people to accomplish shared goals. Greater Seymour Community Foundation founder and board member Ron Geidd recalled how the affiliate led a Seymour 2026 long-range planning process that uncovered a serious concern among residents that the frequently used train tracks through the center of town cut off access to the fire department when trains rolled through. That led to construction of a second fire station on the other side of the tracks to allay those fears.

A larger affiliate, the Joplin-based Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, used a recent grant cycle for tornado recovery to encourage a number of groups to collaborate on one application to fund much-needed affordable housing, and that coalition received CFSWMO’s largest grant ever of $1.5 million.

CFO President Brian Fogle said it’s not easy work, nor does it promise quick results. But offering community foundations as “safe spaces” to convene multiple stakeholders on community issues will lead to more effective grantmaking, and produce stronger results to build new assets. (more…)