The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation sees a new, vibrant Pierce County community.
After a two-year-long process, the organization has developed a new grant-making strategy that will fit into a more sustainable, long-term plan for what the foundation wants to see in the local community. That strategy is called “A Vibrant Community.”
“This program was developed over two years of researching how the Community Foundation can have a defined impact on the community,” said President and CEO Rose Lincoln Hamilton. “‘A Vibrant Community’ is a platform for us to communicate how we feel philanthropy can best serve Pierce County.”
According to spokesperson Mickey Ahrens, the new platform represents a philosophical shift in the organization’s grant-making process. The Community Foundation defined five areas on which to focus future efforts. They are arts and culture, basic needs, the environment, education and neighborhoods and communities.
“We worked together to imagine the possibilities of this community and what it could become,” Ahrens said. “It was really just challenging ourselves…Are we having the impact that we want to be having on the community?”
The new strategy means that grant applicants will have to illustrate how their project fits into the Community Foundation’s goals for a vibrant community.
According to the new strategy, the five elements of a vibrant community make up various aspects of a healthy, dynamic community. The five elements come together to make a community that stresses innovation, curiosity, personal responsibility, social capital and other assets. Organizations applying for grants will have to explain how their goals align with the bigger picture of “A Vibrant Community.”
“This is just the beginning of a forward thinking conversation about how philanthropy can have an impact on the development of Pierce County and the evolving role of the Community Foundation,” Lincoln Hamilton said. “We will be continuously evaluating this process and working with many community leaders and organizations for feedback.”
The Community Foundation was established in 1981, and helps individuals, families and corporations connect their values with philanthropic opportunities. In addition to awarding grants, the foundation works with donors to establish philanthropic funds and invest those funds in the community.
In 2008, the Community Foundation distributed $3.4 million, including $521,000 through the community grant cycle to more than 300 organizations.
The Community Foundation is finishing up its second and final grant-making cycle for 2008. The new strategy will be put in place for the spring 2009 grant cycle, and will be reflected in the application process.
For more information on the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, visit http://www.gtcf.org or call (253) 383-5622.
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