foundation
news
Summer 2017
NCCF Disaster Relief Fund is still hard at work in NC In October of 2016, it never occurred to us at NCCF that we would still, in July, be granting, discussing and working with community partners on how to best serve victims of Hurricane Matthew. Imagine what the victims must feel. (See Eight months later at nccommunityfoundation.org.) News cycles are usually short, so Hurricane Matthew’s continuing aftermath is not still being widely covered by media, despite its historic proportions and long-term devastation. But a quick recap of some of the metrics* shows why disaster recovery remains central to many eastern North Carolina communities, grantmakers like NCCF, economic development organizations and emerging long-term recovery groups, to name just some of the involved entities. Individuals, business owners and farmers are still dealing with the challenges. An NC Department of Commerce report estimated that the state has nearly $1.8 billion in unmet needs in the areas of housing, infrastructure and economic development. And that doesn’t count the $93 million needed to make up for farm losses
This was a common sight throughout eastern North Carolina following the devastating floods. not covered by the US Department of Agriculture. While emergency funding from the federal government totaled more than $500 million directly after the disaster (not including Federal Emergency Management Agency allocations), dire needs remain. The federal government’s recent response to the State of North Carolina’s latest application for emer-
gency assistance totaled less than one percent of the requested $929 million. The US government answered with $6.1 million in aid, or a 0.7 percent allocation of the request. As of press time, this assistance amount was being appealed. That colossal shortfall places continued reliance on local and state Continued on page 5
Blueprint for Success inspires community leadership Four years ago, the North Carolina Community Foundation began an ambitious plan to re-examine how we can best leverage the passion and talents of our statewide network of local affiliate foundation board members to ensure continued success. The Blueprint for Success was created from that process to provide a strategy that local affiliate boards can tailor to help strengthen their impact. The pivotal framework was born out of countless hours of work from the Affiliate Impact Committee made up of staff, and local and statewide board members. Sally Migliore, NCCF’s director of community leadership, is the staff liaison for the committee and oversees the team responsible for facilitating implementation of the plan. “One of the most important aspects of the Blueprint is how affiliates across the state can serve as connectors and conveners,” she said. “Under the framework, affiliates serve their communities by offering knowledge, connection and influence and then benefit in return from greater visibility and impact.” Advisory board members from affiliates across the state are actively carrying out this important cornerstone of the Blueprint, according to Migliore. She points to the Craven County Community Foundation (CCCF) as a recent example of how an affiliate board can enhance its impact by connecting local leadership around community needs. CCCF’s board of advisors formed an ad-hoc committee to strategically examine key local issues and community needs that present opportunities
Craven County leaders gather to discuss local issues.
for their affiliate to lead. After several meetings, the committee identified homelessness as one of the area’s most pressing issues and pinpointed one local nonprofit organization that could help address the problem: Religious Community Services (RCS). RCS addresses Craven County’s essential needs by offering food, clothing and shelter to those who need it most. Tyler Harris, CCCF board president, was familiar with the work of RCS and knew it was amid a capital campaign to expand its facilities to better serve the community. Harris also saw a unique opportunity to convene community leadership representing local funders and government entities. Thanks to his efforts, the meeting attracted more than 40 leaders representing major funders and elected officials at both the county and city levels. “It was really the first time that all of the major funders had gotten together to hear from one nonprofit,” said Juliet Rogers, RCS executive director. “I’ve never been in a position where so many decision-makers were looking at us at one time. There was so much power and influence in one room.” The collaboration gave RCS the opportunity to raise significant awareness of its expansion campaign and has already directly resulted in pivotal grant funding with the door open for continued support. “The meeting has been so important for this small, rural nonprofit,” Rogers said. “The North Carolina Community Foundation’s stamp of approval has meant so much.” Rogers credits the CCCF, especially Harris, with the vision to convene community leaders representing so many different groups. “This only happened because Tyler had the foresight to get all these people together,” she said. “He’s not going to take a lot of credit, but he absolutely needs to.” Rogers was right. Harris wanted no attention when interviewed. “I don’t need any of the credit, and the focus should be on the Foundation,” he said. “The Blueprint for Success was our inspiration. We wanted to see the local community foundation become more of a leader in the community.” Craven County isn’t the only community drawing inspiration from the Blueprint to advance community leadership. On the other side of the state, the Catawba Valley Community Foundation (CVCF) board of advisors has been conducting a comprehensive needs evaluation using an economic lens. The board evaluated a wealth of data and research on local issues and needs, studying reports from workforce forecasts to health and human services data and educational gaps. From the evaluation, the board identified Continued on page 5