District without the foundation needing to be big enough to support a staff and office overhead. Wanamker is delighted with the arrangement. “ACF has successfully managed the fund and our grant making work so that the board could focus on our mission of enhancing the educational experience of students in Anchorage,” she says. The grant making is significant because the application process is handled completely by ACF. ASF recommends the grants to fund and is independent of the school district. ACF distributes the check and receives the grant reports. Sample projects include hydroponic gardening supplies for basil growing at Airport Heights Elementary; Yupik books for the library at Taku Elementary; math manipulatives for higher level math at West High; fabric and sewing supplies to create Kuspuks for the Native Charter School; and a rice cooker for providing food all day for hungry students in a classroom. “Our job is to give money to teachers who are doing great things,” says Wanamaker. “Three years ago we created an emergency fund, a project fund at ACF. Through this fund, we are able to meet emergency needs of students at six pilot schools in our community.”
Affiliates and Partners Alaska has several local community foundations that have developed over the years, and nine of those groups have made the decision to become an affiliate of ACF, which means they have local leadership and presence without having to create their own costly legal infrastructure. “We all know Alaskans who have done well and have retired out of state, taking their money with them and giving it to charities Outside,” Winkler says. “Having a local community foundation fund allows for the conversations to begin locally, with neighbors asking neighbors to give back to the community they both love.” ACF adheres to the best practices of the National Council on Foundations—financial management, legal and IRS compliance, and infrastructure—but each affiliate determines the needs, priorities, and goals of their local community. The Affiliate program began in 2008 with generous support from the Rasmuson Foundation. The Community Asset Building Initiative provided an incentive for community members to consider local donations with a match by the Rasmuson Foundation. The idea was, and is, to build local resources, local community foundations that then fund 64
future community needs. The combined efforts allow for the permanence of local funds and community sustainability. Affiliates of ACF include Chilkat Valley Community Foundation, the Jessica Stevens Community Foundation, Kenai Peninsula Foundation, Petersburg Community Foundation, the Seward Community Foundation, the Golden Heart Community Foundation, Greater Sitka Legacy Fund, Ketchikan Community Foundation, and the Kodiak Community Foundation. ACF also collaborates with and provides some support to three partner community foundations that legally have their own infrastructure and manage their own endowments but have some of their funds held at ACF: Juneau Community Foundation, Homer Foundation, and Arctic Slope Community Foundation. “Because there are several local people who have done well, they come to find this as the best way to leave their money to their community,” Winkler says. “It is expensive to start a foundation on your own, but under the affiliate structure, donors can be assured that local voices will set community goals and funding priorities while the statewide structure ensures compliance and efficiency of resources.” For the Seward Community Foundation, Board member Kim Reierson states, “In 2008 I attended a reception where the idea of creating the Seward Community Foundation was introduced to the community. I knew immediately that this was a good thing for our town. I had never heard of a community foundation before and the idea of creating a permanent endowment for our citizens was an exceptional idea.” This is the can-do forward thinking that is necessary to do the work. The Seward Community Foundation raised the $25,000 necessary in 2008 to receive the Rasmuson match, and in 2009, under a second match, the Foundation grew to $150,000 from the generous gifts and donations from residents in Seward and Moose Pass. Reierson says, “Along the way, the Seward Community Foundation received operational support from ACF. They gave us training and technical assistance and provided the administrative and financial infrastructure that we needed to operate. These services continue to be provided to us.” It is ACF’s “strategy of using profits from investments to fund charity,” as stated in the Report to Alaskans, that appealed to one major donor. A long-time Seward resident, Tony Rollo, passed away and left the Seward Community Foundation a $1.9 million bequest.
Alaska Business Monthly | December 2013
Reierson says that Tony was a well-known local, often seen at the grocery store riding his electric cart and eating ice-cream. He looked like a typical old-time Alaskan. “His financial advisor had told him about the Seward Community Foundation and how by bequeathing his estate to the foundation, he could give to his community forever. His response was, ‘That makes sense!’ Tony’s gift has changed Seward evermore,” Reierson says. This bequest has assisted the Seward Community Foundation to truly be able to support its community and citizens for years into the future. With the help of ACF, it is in a position that would normally take years for a foundation to achieve. One of the project highlights listed is called “Senior Surf Camp 101,” a grant of $1,800 to the Seward Senior Center assists its residents in computer and Internet skills and has opened up a whole new world of connectivity for isolated seniors, some reconnecting with families Outside. Another example of what Seward Community Foundation funding means to nonprofits, Reierson says, is the Seward Boys & Girls Club’s summer DaVinci camp. “This is a four-week summer program for elementary school children that combines the arts and sciences to help them learn about the world around them during summer break. While the director of the Boys & Girls Club does an excellent job, this camp would not be possible without Seward Community Foundation funding.”
The Philanthropy Hub In its new offices on the ground floor of the Calais I Building in Midtown Anchorage, ACF has developed the Philanthropy Hub, a space for ACF and other funders to be housed together, again, combining resources and making efficiency of infrastructure. The Hub was the brainchild of Winkler when it became obvious ACF had outgrown its office in Downtown Anchorage. As the anchor organization in the Philanthropy Hub, ACF provides physical and technology infrastructure, conference space, and reception services to other groups and then charges rent to cover a portion of the shared expenses thereby reducing some of its own costs and that of the other groups. Thus more resources can go into the mission critical components of grant making. Almost all of the furniture and office components were donated by Conoco Philips and Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, and the Rasmuson Foundation invested in the space to help bring down the rent. www.akbizmag.com