Judge Scott Hill-Kennedy, President, Mecosta County Community Foundation

From President Scott Hill-Kennedy:

And indeed it is Spring (thank goodness) in Michigan, the time of transition and the time of the year where we prepare for the assortment of activities that fill the 2012 Calendar. The transition part, except for the spotty, up-and-down weather, is good—pure Michigan Maple Syrup, blooming crocuses and tulips, and the first hints of the massive greening of our state that will soon follow. At the Foundation we go from wrapping up 2011, issuing the annual report, tidying up the last follow up details from Match Day 2011 (including meeting with focus groups drawn from non-profits that participated), assessing the expectations and receiving advice from our Foundation Emeriti, and shifting our focus from 2011 and 2012 solely to 2012. Of course as we pass through Spring we look ahead to planting and tending all that grows, mowing our grass, power washing and staining wooden decks, painting, summer and fall trips and excursions, and maybe even a wedding or two. At the Foundation we look ahead to working more closely with our Emeriti in ways that they would like, continuing to make more productive and useful the way we work with all of you and manage our shared business, and planning for an evolving version of Match Day for 2012.

Let me be a little more specific about what the Foundation is planning for 2012. First, we will enhance a bit our relationship with our Foundation Alumni. Several sit on committees helping with the work of evaluating and granting funds for scholarships and grants, and more will likely do so. I expect that several will join our existing Emeriti Committee to help direct the current Foundation Board’s work with our Alumni. Others are around to help us network and to provide a bit or encouragement. And, by the way, we are not looking to unduly burden Emeriti who have already taken their turn dedicating many years to serving the Foundation; we just would like to rub elbows with them occasionally because it might be satisfying for our Alumni to stay connected with what they helped create and grow. And for those of us currently serving on the Foundation Board, it focuses us on keeping the Foundation on track to accomplish what the Foundation was set up to do and is capable of doing for our community in the future.

Second, we continue to clarify and streamline what we do internally so that we can regularly improve the way we interact with all of you and everyone that interacts with the Foundation. You can rest assured that we are not bureaucracy builders. We want to keep as streamlined and least costly as possible the administrative work of our Foundation. And trust me that we have done a lot in this regard because of Robyn Stratton, our Administrative Executive. We want to use Robyn’s limited time and great expertise wisely, so we are moving toward being more refined in setting out what each of our Board Members should and will do as part of the broader Board and in contributing to the targeted work of our several committees. Robyn is the leader of our day-to-day activities, and as you have, we have benefited greatly from Robyn’s professionalism, expertise, efficiency, and good will.

Third, Match Day 2012 likely will happen, but it is evolving this year. And by next year it likely will have evolved yet again. Although plans for Match Day 2012 have not been finalized, right now we are in the midst of raising money to fund the Match Day 2012 Pool. It takes a solid effort to raise tens of thousands of dollars in a relatively short time to fund the match pool. We are getting there. As you know the Match Day Pool has been used to match or pair with money that has been raised by many of the non-profits in our community. It is an incentive to donors to give because it makes their donation a little bit bigger, and when paired with the actual one-day Match Day Event to attract the attention of donors, provides a unique way to motivate and focus all of us donors in regards to non-profit activities we do or might support. In part, we have intended that it help create networks amongst non-profits and donors and model philanthropic and fund-raising techniques. So far so good. It has led to a lot of money going directly to supporting operating expenses for many non-profits and a lesser amount of money going to endowments where the money donated is invested and protected and the investment earnings only are spent. Obviously the Match Day dollars raised that are used for current operating expense are spent relatively quickly, clearly for very important community needs. The endowed moneys on the other hand are invested and in perpetuity provide regular earnings, used year after year after year for community needs. It is important to note that as we have fostered and encouraged broader giving in our community (in 2011 the combined contributions to Match Day 2011 and to the local 2011 United Way Campaign (Mecosta and Osceola) exceeded $1,000,000), yet the real mission or focus of the Foundation remains unchanged–to provide long-term stable sources of funding for the many activities that are important to our community. We do this by facilitating the establishment and continued contribution to endowments. It is again turning to our mission that leads to some change or evolution in Match Day 2012, and likely means that our signature event for 2013 likely will be bit different than the 2012 event. Again we have not finalized plans for match Day 2012, but it is likely that some of the Match Pool for 2012 will be used to match donations that are not to endowments (much like what occurred for Match Day 2011) and some likely will be used specifically to match donations to existing or newly-established endowments to return the focus somewhat to our endowment mission. Undoubtedly we want to encourage endowment growth to ensure long-term sources of funding for so many important activities in our community.

Yes, indeed, Spring means transition time and planning for the year to come. We are doing that in our personal lives and in our Foundation. I have no doubt that this has been and will continue to be an excellent year for the Foundation and for all of you, our friends and partners. Best wishes, and we look forward to joining with you to put all of our joint plans into action for an outstanding 2012, including a very successful Match Day 2012.