Passion & Purpose: Winter 2025-26
A message from Winter
In the community foundation world, the word “gifts” is thrown around a lot.
In our organization, “gifts” refers to any amount of money that comes into a charitable fund, whether from donors, nonprofits or national funders. Basically, it means “money in,” which is then compared to the “grants” (or “money out”) to give our staff, board and community a broad financial picture of the foundation. That is admittedly a huge oversimplification of our terminology, but on the average day, it’s what I think of when I hear “gifts” (which I hope you agree sounds so much nicer than “revenue”).
But as I sit here and write this in early December, the word “gifts” has many more meanings to me, personally. Naturally, there’s the list of things I still need to buy for family and friends, and maybe a few I secretly hope to receive come Dec. 25. (Is 24 hours of no children bickering too much to ask for? Probably.) But the gifts I’m really thinking about are those of time, talent and treasure I have the privilege to witness every day.
With that in mind, it’s my pleasure to introduce this issue of Passion & Purpose, which highlights several such gifts, including:
- Gifts of service. Our Humanitarian of the Year Award, established more than 35 years ago by Jewell Thompson Schweitzer, is a wonderful way to begin the holiday season. On Nov. 18, we celebrated Stephanie Stenger, a past CFO board chair and community benefactor who has played a leading role in a number of local initiatives. She is an inspiration and a role model, and you can learn more about her own inspirations on Page 3.
- Gifts of community. We have so many amazing affiliate board members who have a vision for their hometowns and are willing to give time and money to make them happen. Prime examples of this can be found on Pages 4 and 6, where you’ll read about how the Community Foundation of the Lake and the Houston Community Foundation have partnered with a local business and the county library system, respectively, to create huge impact on their hometowns.
- Gifts of legacy. On Page 5, Kaitlyn McConnell tells the story of Robert Alexander, a Branson pharmacist who left a planned gift to the Community Foundation of Taney County that will make life better for so many people in the years and decades to come. Mr. Alexander’s estate could have gone anywhere, but he chose to share it with everyone. There’s no greater gift than that.
Personally, the greatest gift I receive every day outside of my family is the opportunity to work with such talented, caring individuals, who give of themselves for this organization and our communities. While they may not show up as revenue on our financial statements, these are the gifts that make the work we do meaningful and our region the best place in the world to live.
I wish you and yours the warmest of holiday seasons, and happiness and health in the new year.
— Winter Kinne is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. This letter is featured in the winter 2025-26 edition of Passion & Purpose.
