The 2019 recipients of the Green River Area Community Foundation Capacity Building Grants were announced Thursday morning during the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce Rooster Booster breakfast.
Utilizing funds from their Owensboro-Daviess County Community Endowment Fund, the Green River Area Community Foundation (GRACF) conducted a grant application process that resulted in nineteen local nonprofits submitting applications for capacity building projects totaling over $130,000 in requests. This year, the Marilyn and William Young Foundation collaborated with the Community Foundation to jointly award a total of $30,000. The five charitable organizations granted funds are:
CASA of the Ohio Valley – $3,400
Maximize donor engagement, gift acknowledgements, and recruitment efforts (cloud-based donor management software)
Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club – $7,472
Technology upgrade for increased staff productivity, prevent cyber attacks, and secure data storage (6 computers, Microsoft, install firewall, automatic network storage device)
Dream Riders of Kentucky, Inc. – $3,834
Campaign to increase the number of riders, volunteers, and partnership agencies (website redesign, video production, table top display, brochures, flyers)
Junior Achievement of West Kentucky – $5,687
Increase marketing and program kit recycling capacity to serve more local students, and reduce costs to produce high quality materials (high volume, full color printer/copier, with scanner and fax capabilities)
OASIS – $9,607
Leadership development and technology improvements
(7 computers, Ubiquiti AP AC Pro, installation, and staff leadership training)
The 2018 Capacity Building Grant recipients were Hospice of Western Kentucky, Girls, Inc. of Owensboro-Daviess County, and St. Joseph Peace Mission. They were awarded a combined total of $20,000 to complete their capacity building projects.
The Owensboro-Daviess County Community Fund was established in 1995 as a permanent endowment to meet the charitable needs identified by the then Community Foundation of Owensboro-Daviess County, allowing grants to be awarded to charitable organizations within Daviess County. Since that time, the foundation has grown to a regional focus and has been renamed the Green River Area Community foundation. This past year, a foundation philanthropist generously donated funds to create a new endowment fund that will eventually grow to support nonprofits in any of the counties the foundation serves.
The Green River Area Community Foundation is an affiliate foundation of the Community Foundation of Louisville (CFL). CFL offered Capacity Building Grants for several years with excellent outcomes. It is their grant process from which the GRACF Grantmaking Committee modeled their approach.
The local Community Foundation was established in 1993 by community leaders who foresaw the foundation as a vehicle to expand local philanthropy and to support charitable organizations. Because of their initiative to create the foundation, over the past 25 years, nonprofits have received over $10 million in grants from local Community Foundation funds.
“The Community Foundation has grown because of the generosity and tremendous vision of its founders, donors and volunteers, and we welcome more to join this legacy.”
If you would like to learn more about the Green River Area Community Foundation, you can contact Amy Silvert at [email protected].
