Working with Community Foundations
What are Community Foundations?
Community foundations are charitable trusts that support local community causes. Their role is to manage donor funds and build endowment as well as make grants to charities and community groups, linking local donors with local needs. Created by and for local people they help donors express their long-term interest in an area and its needs. Community foundations have been active in the UK since the 1980s and a rapidly growing network of approximately 60 foundations is now established across the country. About 90% of the UK population has access to a community foundation. Nationally they now have endowments totalling almost £100 million, and give grants, derived from annual giving and from investment income, in excess of £60 million a year to the areas which they represent.
The Community Foundation Network
The Community Foundation Network commissioned Andrew de Mille to undertake a major piece of research to define and underpin the fundraising case for promoting community foundations across the SE Region, defining the key selling points and setting out a strategy which would focus on the combined impacts and regional aspects of their work rather than their individual county-by-county activity. This looked at the demographic and economic case for developing a joint promotion of the movement across the whole region, looking at the regional economic impact of Community Foundations now and their possible impact in the future. The detailed research was carried out by Andrew's research associate Luke Kennedy.
Sussex Community Foundation
In 2004 Sussex was one of only four counties in the UK which did not have a community foundation. It was at Andrew's suggestion that the Duke of Richmond took on the initiative of founding a Community Foundation to cover East and West Sussex and Brighton and Hove. Andrew was commissioned to undertake a feasibility study to establish the need for a community foundation and to set out a strategy for achieving it. Once again Luke Kennedy, Andrew de Mille's research associate, helped with the detailed demographic research needed. The Feasibility Study, its Executive Summary (PDF,600Kb), and the detailed appendix showing demographic research undertaken, were published and are available from Sussex Community Foundation. Andrew was advisor to the steering group which established Sussex Community Foundation in 2005/6.
The Buckinghamshire Foundation
Given a very small budget for consultancy, Andrew's involvement was concentrated over two years (2003-6) on two key areas - helping build a network of personal approach to start increasing membership, and focusing our attention on the elusive major endowment gifts. The
Director at the time, Mike Sparks (pictured right) says:
“Andrew's advice, experience and wisdom were a great benefit to us. Considering how little of his time we used, his influence on our decisions concerning fund development were considerable. I also greatly value his support to me personally - he was always there for me when I needed a second opinion or support at a key meeting. It was an excellent way of running a true advisory consultancy relationship - he acted as my mentor.”