Enduring Local Philanthropic Partnerships Since it began in 1922, Grand Rapids Community Foundation has always done its work in partnership. Donor partners pool funds so the Community Foundation can make grants to organizations that meet local needs. In 1929, the Community Foundation received its first major donation—from the estate of Mary Metz. Thanks to the Metz gift, the Community Foundation made its first grants the next year—to Grand Rapids Welfare Union (a predecessor of United Way), Family Service Association (from which Family Outreach Center emerged), Salvation Army and Volunteers of America.
This spring we connected with Michelle Van Dyke, CEO of Heart of West Michigan United Way to discuss what has endured or changed in our organizations’ century-long partnership. NAME CHANGES AND FILLING GAPS “Looking back into HWMUW archives, I can see that we’ve changed names 11 times since we began in 1917. And I know we’ve worked in close partnership with each other for decades, but our records are best since 1959,” said Michelle, who came to the nonprofit world from a career in banking. Some of HWMUW’s past names include Federation of Social Agencies, Grand Rapids Welfare Union, Community Chest, Community War Chest, Kent County Community Chest Red Feather Service, United Drive, United Community Fund and United Way of Kent County. In 1993, HWMUW changed to its current name.
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In the 1910s, several U.S. cities started annual Community Chest fundraising campaigns. Just like the Community Chest squares in a Monopoly game, the Community Chest collected money to distribute to people in need. During World Wars 1 and 2, many annual campaigns were renamed Community War Chests, because some of the money went to families whose wage-earners were away at war. A red feather—whether on a button, window sticker or flag—was the Community Chest symbol. By the early 1960s, most Community Chest fundraisers had become known as United Way. Michelle recounted extra gifts from the Community Foundation that helped United Way “get our annual fundraising campaign over the finish line. In 1959, it increased its gift from $5,000 to $25,000. In 1970, it pledged $60,000, then came up with $50,000 more to close the gap. And, in 1986, the Community Foundation put up a $175,000 match grant for new United Way gifts from
organizations, businesses and individuals—which helped us get new donors into the fold and increase overall community support.” EVOLVING TOWARDS EQUITY Over the course of this 100-year relationship, some aspects of the partnership between HWMUW and the Community Foundation have remained consistent while others have evolved and adapted to meet current community needs. Despite different models, the two organizations have been able to complement each other’s efforts in making systemic changes. Michelle compared United Way to the community’s checkbook and the Community Foundation to the community’s savings account. “Even though [the Community Foundation] was built on endowments, and workplace annual fundraising is big for us, our different fundraising methods have worked together on community initiatives.” For example, in 1991 the two entities co-sponsored a youth initiative conference to help them address teen pregnancy and parenting, homelessness, substance abuse, teen suicide, racism and more. When the Community Foundation started the Youth Grant Committee, there was not staff capacity to operate the program. For a few years HWMUW hosted the program while the Community Foundation held the endowment and ramped up its programmatic capabilities. During the pandemic, the Community Foundation made a recovery grant and helped its Donor Advised fund partners direct money to HWMUW’s COVID-19 emergency rental assistance. BEYOND GRANTMAKING The relationship between HWMUW and the Community Foundation extends beyond grantmaking and collaborative community initiatives. Michelle said, “It’s neat for me to know that Diana Sieger started her career at United Way.” She described serving on the Community Foundation Board of Trustees; getting to know Diana personally and professionally; being able to share information about who’s doing what and who’s making which grants; and being invited to nonprofit and foundation discussions convened by the Community Foundation. “It’s been so important to be at the table with the Community Foundation and other funders to share different thoughts and perspectives. We’ve been watching your work in equity and equity-based grants and, quite honestly, your equity work has become a model for us in how we’re doing our work in community as well,” she added. This legacy of relationship between Heart of West Michigan United way and Grand Rapids Community Foundation is a testament to the importance of collaboration, learning from mistakes and evolving toward equity together. This partnership is more than a transaction of dollars. It has been a thought partnership and collaboration that benefits our community. J.H.H.
Historical photos courtesy of HWMUW