2019 Community Needs Application Available

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The 2019 application for the Community Needs process is now available. The Community Foundation offers one grant cycle per year to connect local nonprofit organizations with funding. The application deadline is at the beginning of October each year. Agencies physically located in and serving Harrisonburg and Rockingham County may apply every year. The project to be funded must serve the local area.

 

The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County shares nonprofit grant requests with our donors, local family and private foundations, other local philanthropists, local giving circles and our own Grants & Scholarship Committee. Projects are also marketed through an annual publication in the Daily News-Record each November. Current project requests from nonprofit organizations are updated on our website and highlighted at all Community Foundation events.

 

Funding can range from $250 to $10,000. Donations are at the discretion of individual donors, corporations, civic clubs and grants committees. Funds are not distributed on any certain timeline. The application deadline is October 1.

Daily News-Record publishes ‘Giving Back’ – November 2018

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If you would like to have a print version of this booklet, please stop by our offices at 317 S. Main Street in December to pick up your copy, or call The Community Foundation directly, 540-432-3863, and we can mail one to you.

 

Download PDF

Shenandoah Valley Economic Education Endowment

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Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc. is a nonprofit organization with a mission of promoting economic literacy in the Shenandoah Valley. SVEE provides the resources to teach students K-12 how the elements of free enterprise and the American economic system function.

Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc. is a nonprofit organization with a mission of promoting economic literacy in the Shenandoah Valley. SVEE provides the resources to teach students K-12 how the elements of free enterprise and the American economic system function.

 

SVEE’s business supporters work in partnership with area schools to broaden the knowledge of economics. By funding a teacher consultant to work with local teachers, SVEE provides the driving force for training teachers and assisting with the classroom experience.

 

In a typical year, SVEE-supported programs reach 800 teachers with information and materials, 100 teachers with training in workshops, and 20 teachers for intensive training in economic education. Using figures supplied by the Virginia Council on Economic Education, this translates into classroom benefits for more than 32,000 students in the Shenandoah Valley.

The SVEE-funded Mini-Economy program helps students learn about entrepreneurship by starting their own businesses in a classroom society.

 

SVEE-funded professional development opportunities include workshops that help teachers learn the latest simulation games for teaching about the economy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The SVEE-funded teacher consultant works year-round to help promote economic literacy. Services are provided through the teacher outreach program of the James Madison University Center for Economic Education.

 

Peter Yates of Harrisonburg currently serves SVEE as Chairman of the Board. SVEE is governed by a board representing local business and community interests.

 

SVEE-sponsored programs have achieved a high degree of effectiveness and national recognition, consecutively winning the top national awards in research (William C. Wood, 2016) and service (Lynne F. Stover, 2017) given by the National Association of Economic Educators.

This SVEE-sponsored project recruited local high school students to help produce state-of-the-art instructional materials for online teaching.

 

 

 

In 2005, a permanent fund was established at The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County to provide on-going support for Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc.  If you are interested in supporting local economic education, please consider a gift to the Shenandoah Valley Economic Education Endowment.

Now accepting applications for Sean Warner Memorial Grant

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[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.tcfhr.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2018-Sean-Warner-Memorial-Grant.pdf” title=”2018 Sean Warner Memorial Grant”]

Great Community Give Is On Its Way!

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The Great Community Give is on its way! This event is the first online, community-wide giving day event for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Community members will have the opportunity to support their favorite nonprofit organizations that serve our area every day on April 18, 2018 from 6:30 am to 8 pm. Throughout the day we will also draw the names of lucky donors who could help their nonprofit organization for additional prize money. If you are a business and would like more information on sponsorship opportunities for this event, please email Susanne Myers at [email protected]. Whether you are a donor, board member, sponsor, or nonprofit, make sure to Point, Click, GIVE on April 18th!

 

 

If you have any questions regarding Great Community Give, please direct them to our graduate assistant, Amanda Bomfim, at [email protected].

 

Friendship Industries Endowment Fund

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Friendship Industries is a business with a social mission to develop and maintain employment and training opportunities for persons with disabilities in integrated work environments. Our employees work on commercial contracts with the Department of Defense, major retailers, and international companies; providing the packaging experience our customers expect. We also have job coaches supporting employees at other area businesses. In our efforts to positively impact employment for persons with disabilities, we look to community donors to assist with supporting our employment services. Currently we are focusing on two areas (1) employment scholarships (2) helping improve employee environments through our warehouse expansion.

 

In 2007, the Board of Friendship Industries, Inc. established the Friendship Industries Endowment Fund, a permanently endowed fund, with The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County. The purpose of this fund is to support the ongoing operational costs of the organization.  As you consider your year-end giving this holiday season, please consider making a gift to the Friendship Industries Endowment Fund and positively impact the individuals served by this local nonprofit organization.

Charitable Giving on a Budget

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Although it’s still late summer, some people are ready to start planning for the season of giving. Gifts will be carefully chosen for family and friends, scrumptious desserts will be baked and ready to eat, and holiday decorations hung up around the house. What about giving back to the community though? Unfortunately most of us aren’t made of money so when it comes to charitable giving, planning a budget is a necessity. Here are a few tips to start planning for the upcoming holiday season!

 

Donate your clutter

Go through your house and clear out any unwanted items or things you don’t need that others could use more. Here are a few organizations to start with that accept donations:

http://www.valleyopendoors.com/

http://ourcommunityplace.org/

http://virginiasalvationarmy.org/harrisonburgva/

http://www.goodwillvalleys.com/

http://www.themercyhouse.org/

http://giftandthrift.org/

 

Pool your money

Create a small giving circle within your friends and family to pool all your money together and make one large donation to the organization of your choosing.

 

Set aside part of your income

Try to set aside at least 3% of your income on a regular basis to ensure you’ll have a little something to give and still have a separate pool of money for family gifts.

 

Employer match donations

Most corporate employers have matching funds or grants that match its employees’ charitable contributions. Some matching gifts are dollar-for-dollar but others can be double or triple the donation.

 

Blood/plasma donations

When donating money isn’t an option, don’t forget you can donate blood or plasma and some places even compensate you for your donation with cash (which can then be donated if you wish).

 

Donate your time

Finally, don’t forget you can always donate your time. A lot of organizations are always looking for extra hands to help out in the busy season of giving. Even if it’s only an hour of your time, anything helps!

Aren’t sure where help is needed? Check out these organizations below!

https://www.brafb.org/

http://www.themercyhouse.org/

http://ourcommunityplace.org/

www.bbshr.org/

http://virginiasalvationarmy.org/harrisonburgva/

http://www.uwhr.org/

https://www.sites.google.com/site/wrtcpublicrhetoric/home

 

Click on link below for a full list of local non-profit organizations.

http://www.tcfuwhr.org/index.php/site/a-z

 

 

 

Bridging the Generational Gap

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What does it mean to give back? For most people, I’d say it depends on who you’re asking the question at and when they were born. Throughout the generations who give back to their community and their favorite nonprofits, each generation thinks and gives differently. According to Hartnett and Matan “Nearly 60% of Gen Ys and 50% of Gen Xers want to see directly the impact of their donations, while just 37% of Baby Boomers say seeing a direct impact matters to them.”

However the question remains: how do we bridge the generational gap of giving between Baby Boomers and Generation Y (or Millennials) and really connect with younger donors?

It is also reported by Harnett and Matan that “…45% of Boomers say their financial contribution is key, only 36% of Gex Xers and 25% of Gen Ys think that what matters most is a difference made of money. Instead, they believe that volunteering and spreading the word is more impactful”.  While Baby Boomers and Generation Xers will not be around forever, it has become an important task in creating relationships between nonprofits and Millennials in continuing to find new ways to engage with younger donors.

While Generation Y only represents a small percentage of giving, they do represent the largest percentage of media usage. Numerous social media platforms exist on the internet bringing in users all over the world to share their thoughts, pictures, and connect with old friends. Software company, Blackbaud (see full interactive report here) says, 90% of social media usage is on Facebook and a whopping 97% is surprisingly on YouTube, with LinkedIn and Twitter in last. Generation X does not fall far behind Millennials in the category of social media as well. They also spend most of their time on YouTube at 92%, Facebook at 77%, and LinkedIn at 57% according to Blackbaud.  All in all, Generation Y and X are more likely to give back through social media and learn more about new nonprofits through shared posts and videos, while Baby Boomers give back more through direct mail and organization’s websites.

What does this mean for philanthropy and nonprofits? Essentially, this means social media will become and already plays a huge role in giving back. Whether you are a small nonprofit just getting started or a large established nonprofit, social media is key in educating and connecting with new young donors as we begin to see more Millennials following in the footsteps of their charitable parents and grandparents.

Don’t forget to visit our social media pages  for the latest information on nonprofit news and to see what we’ve been up to!

FB Pinterest IG twitter

You can also give directly to any of our funds listed on our website by clicking on “Donate Now.”

Giving and Happiness

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Can money buy us happiness? I think most of us would say no. But what about gifts to others? At the Community Foundation, we believe that giving not only strengthens and improves our community but giving to others makes us happy. We see it everyday as we work with donors to make their philanthropic goals a reality. Michael Norton, Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School has researched this phenomenon and agrees. According to Dr Norton, spending on others makes us think differently about our money and ultimately makes us happier. Check out his recent story on the TED Radio Hour on NPR:


So if giving makes us happy, can we take that a step farther and say that local giving has a two-fold benefit for our community: 1) it provides much needed funding for services and other community improvements and 2) community members are happier in general. I don’t know about you but I think a happier community is a better community.

Not sure where to give or how to give? The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham can help. We offer many ways to give back to your community no matter the dollar level. Check out our current Community Needs Listing where we have compiled a list of needs from our local nonprofit organizations. Please give us a call at 432-3863 if you would like more information on fulfilling a need in our community.

IMPACT Harrisonburg, a giving circle for professionals in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, provides a great way to give to others. Each member of the giving circle gives an amount based on age and collectively the group decides which local nonprofits will benefit. Not only do members benefit by giving their money to others but they are part of a collaborative effort that is making a difference in our community. Last year the group gave almost $15,000 to local nonprofit On The Road Collaborative to provide after school education and support for at-risk middle school children. Voting for a grant recipient for 2016 will start at the end of May. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this exciting new group in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Here’s a link to more information on IMPACT.

Contact me at the Community Foundation with questions or if you would like additional information.

Melissa
[email protected]
432-3863

Mid-Year Update on IMPACT Harrisonburg

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IMPACT Harrisonburg continues to see growing involvement and interest from the Harrisonburg and Rockingham community.

In December 2015, the group held a well-attended event with TCF donors as speakers. The event was titled “Inside The Philanthropist Mind”. The intent of the evening was to hear from some of our community’s philanthropists to learn why they give and to hear what their 20s, 30s, and 40s, were like.

We thought you might be interested in hearing the “impact” made on 2015 recipient On The Road Collaborative.

The impact of IMPACT Harrisonburg’s first grant award continues to reverberate throughout the hallways of Skyline Middle School during On the Road Collaborative’s inaugural program year. You will find 90 middle school youth actively engaged in their 10-week hands-on Career Enrichment Projects, learning a wide range of careers from their volunteer professionals (known as Community Teachers), in everything from coding to broadcasting to arts. 

After a tremendously successful Learning Showcase season in December, which included a Mock Trial in the downtown Harrisonburg Circuit Courthouse, original photography exhibit at Spitzer Art Center, Iron Chef cooking challenge, and a variety of youth ‘teach-back’ presentations at our main event at Skyline Middle School, we are already underway with the new semester and a new line-up of Career Enrichment Projects, including architecture, fashion, theatre, personal finance, leadership and fitness, just to name a few. 

Not only has IMPACT enabled us to successfully launch our middle school program this year and make a tremendous difference in the lives of local youth, but you have helped lay the foundation for us to expand our services next year to more kids and more days at Skyline Middle!

~Brent Holsinger

IMPACT has great momentum and wants to grow the support of people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s to make an “impact” on Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

Here’s the web link to signup.

https://squareup.com/market/impact-harrisonburg-

 

Here’s the address where you can send a check.

The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg/Rockingham County

for IMPACT

P.O. Box 1068

Harrisonburg, VA 22803