Grand Rapids Community Foundation

For good. For ever.

President's Point of View: A reprieve from cynicism

December 24, 2007

A few days ago I said to a Foundation staff member, “Don’t you just want to say to people - hey take a break from your cynical view of life!” We laughed and thought it was a good idea given the holiday season. But alas, pessimism abounds in some corners of our world!

In my last post I stated that community politics were particularly active these days and not in a good way thus my comment re: a reprieve from cynicism.

In the midst of the barrage of commentary, I received an email from the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University notifying me that the December issue of the newsletter for the Nonprofit Good Practice Guide was available. If you never have accessed this site here’s the link- it is well worth the visit and in fact, well worth looking over the entire Center for Philanthropy site.

The good work that the Johnson Center does for our local community and frankly well beyond our borders throughout the country and globally, just confirmed for me how important it is to support their efforts and use the great resources that they make available!

The Grand Rapids Community Foundation has provided the Johnson Center’s Community Research Center $1.6million over the past few years. We are doing this because of this is our R&D and it is the community’s R&D as well. Their expertise is constantly growing and the data is made user friendly (and I would be the litmus test on that score!) and improving all the time!

I heard that one of our local funding leaders made the statement to a county official that the GRCF seems to be closely aligned with the Kent County Family and Children’s Coordinating Council (KCFCCC). I cleaned up what he actually said. And this person also has said that of our relationship with the Community Research Center. You bet we have a close relationship with both entities and we will continue to have this close relationship!

Why? Because both entities are excellent! The KCFCCC is at the epicenter of strong collaboration for human services in our county. The CRI is at the epicenter of great data and information to help all of us make critical decisions!

So I admit it! We are closely aligned with KCFCCC and the CRI and the entire Johnson Center! And when I received the notice of the Nonprofit Good Practice Guide’s December newsletter, it reminded me that good work needs to be rewarded and that cynicism needs to be silenced. Let’s just get on with it addressing the critical issues facing our community!

Happy holidays everyone and let’s move forward working together!

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Comments

I have been reading your commentaries on your blog for a while now. As someone who has used the good practise site at Johnson Center site, it is a true great investment to have and your support of this program truly touches not only those who are interested in ways of measuring outcomes but also researching on best practise models from board leadership to program evaluation.

The link that Johnson Center could explore further is how to help local non profits use the site data to enhance their effectiveness or provide service that is based on best practise.

Posted by: Frederick Bw'Ombongi | December 24, 2007 3:33 PM

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