Grand Rapids Community Foundation

You Poor Souls! ;-)

December 2^nd, 2011

It's time for Diana's Soapbox!

For years, I have been on a mission to help people understand that the nonprofit sector is not second class! While the sector has been hit hard by the recession, what sector hasn't? Well, MiBiz is featuring a section of their publication now focusing on the nonprofit sector and frankly I couldn't be more pleased.  I am not trying to promote this publication over any other but I am just making a point that with all the focus on how the nonprofit sector should be more businesslike and other uninformed comments like that I've heard over the years, frankly this is refreshing.

In the November 28th issue, the section on nonprofits was introduced and in that section was an article that featured my opinion on the nonprofit sector and its role in helping to revitalize our state of Michigan.  As a sign used to proclaim in my office, "everyone is entitled to my opinion", please feel free to open this link and be greeted by my thoughts! 

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Have I got a question for you!

April 7^th, 2011

At a recent board meeting a trustee asked me a question that has had me intrigued since then. We were presenting key aspects of our impact measurement system called Novah to demonstrate its ability to understand the difference our grants may or may not be making. I enticed the board with this in the meeting invitation: "If you are interested in understanding how we do measure our grants, then this is the session for you!" It was a GREAT meeting!

So back to the question which was: "Do our colleagues working in the area of economic development and more specifically those organizations formed to address the macro area of economic development understand the value of community foundations in our region?" My immediate answer was: "they don't care." What thankfully ensued was an inspiring discussion.

The trustee was focusing on our work in improving the general health and well-being of our community that plays a key role in retaining businesses and to enhance the community culture to attract businesses! He basically was making the point that community foundations do and can make a significant difference in shaping the competitive advantage of our region.

I do know that our economic development colleagues do care and I trust that the community foundation leaders in West Michigan will demonstrate our value to our respective communities in many areas that include work force development, improving high school graduation rates, environmental concerns, creating affordable housing, encouraging the growth of arts and culture, and so much more.

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Strengthening Michigan . . . it is a collective effort!

January 20^th, 2011

Last week I was invited along with several foundation leaders from around the state to meet with Gov. Rick Snyder who was recently elected to lead Michigan. It was a good meeting and a positive step helping the governor became more familiar with the priorities and ideas from the philanthropic leaders in our state and to provide an opportunity for him to outline some of his goals.

I am a member of the Advisory Committee of the Office of Foundation Liaison (OFL), which is an important entity established to coordinate and connect philanthropy with the Governor's Office and other state departments. It was created by Dave Egner and Dave Campbell, Detroit area foundation leaders, when former Gov. Granholm came into office. I am pleased to see that the OFL will continue its work in this new administration. Rob Collier, president of the Council of Michigan Foundations along with the OFL, arranged this meeting.

The Governor and all the people of the state of Michigan will continue to have a rough ride as we climb out of a recession that has lasted a little more than a decade in our great state. It definitely is going to take all of us to address the economic obstacles and difficult conditions in this state. As noted often by the Center for Michigan and Lou Glazer's Michigan Futures organization, there are many factors that need to be addressed to turn our state around. Using the information from these two organizations may help guide the discussion leading to a vibrant and strong future for all in Michigan.

But statistics, hard facts and compelling arguments aside, one thing that I can only describe as the "je ne sais quoi" of it all is the need for all of us in this state to come together and to avoid funneling a majority of our precious resources in one area or region as the only answer to all the woes facing us. Innovation and entrepreneurial behavior are not exclusive to one area of Michigan and certainly do exist in West Michigan. Gov. Snyder recognized the role of The Right Place, Inc. in his State of the State Address last night (January 19, 2011) thus linking their strengths to other areas of the state. Congratulations to Birgit Klohs by the way on this recognition of the strength of this area's economic development organization. Recognizing and growing robust business clusters throughout the state is going to be critical as well.

The Grand Rapids Community Foundation has a solid history in supporting community development at the neighborhood and city levels as well as helping support efforts to strengthen small businesses, financing micro-loan programs, funding programs to help people avoid foreclosures and add more affordable housing to many areas of our region. We are also investing in more macro level economic development efforts such as the Innovation West Michigan which is an initiative of The Right Place, Inc.

We are playing and will continue to play a key role in strengthening the state of Michigan. It is about job creation, creating a welcoming environment for all and overcoming obstacles making this state great once again!

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What's Your Art? Go to whatsyourartgr.com!

February 8^th, 2010

Last April, I called together the CEOs from our area's larger arts and cultural organizations along with our colleagues from the Frey and Steelcase Foundations to discuss the impact of the recession and how they were all faring. It was a tough meeting. Obviously the topic of budgets that are stretched to the limit was top of mind of those in the group. Money was and is needed! Ultimately the conversation focused on what we all could do together that would rise all ships in this stormy time. Most agreed that their donations and audiences had fallen off due to the difficult economic time and that attention should be drawn to how important the arts are to the vibrancy of Grand Rapids and the region! The community's focus understandably was and still is on trying to meet the immediate needs of people like food, clothing, and shelter. To respond to that, in January 2009 17 foundations banded together to pool more than $2M to address the immediate needs of people in our community. But we also knew that the future of our community also meant keeping the arts alive - not fluff but really focusing on the talents of our community! The discussion went to how we could address the declining revenue issue of our arts and cultural organizations without breaking the back and resources of the foundations in our community. Yes there were and still are some who believe that the foundations should rally to fund the faltering operating budgets of all of our nonprofit organizations. But here's a sobering fact: even if we were to combine all the assets of the foundations, it wouldn't even touch the financial situation of the entire sector particularly over the long term! After many meetings throughout the spring and summer of 2009 with the representatives of the arts and cultural organizations and a very productive focus group session, a plan for a comprehensive marketing effort emerged focusing on all of the arts banding together! A real feat! This effort is being launched this month and is funded by the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. The Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids will be at the hub of this effort. Working with the creative team of Plenty Creative (thus the name!) and Lambert, Edwards & Associates we are ready to roll! Thanks to the Frey Foundation, the Arts Council is building their strength to host a website showcasing every arts organization and their activities and keep it going! As is noted in the announcement for this huge campaign, "The consensus [of the arts groups] was resounding, that a new marketing effort could help build interest, attendance and membership . . . Grand Rapids has a pedigree for art. It is the creative flagship of West Michigan . . ." What will this entail? A website that is a fresh way to highlight all groups connecting more than 60 diverse arts and cultural organizational in greater Grand Rapids. "The site is a highly interactive destination . . . calendar of events, links to purchase tickets, video and audio components and social media connections." This site will provide the opportunity for all groups to cross-market themselves and ultimately expand their audiences. Other activities and events are planned as well. AND lest you think this is a futile attempt or just a flash in the pan, each and every organization and museum share the responsibility to keep their events and activities in the forefront of our community. In order for this to work, each organization needs to actively participate. The website is live and is found at www.whatsyourartgr.com and is the first-ever, dedicated arts and culture portal for the Grand Rapids region! We need to support the arts as it is a strong link to continued economic growth and development in our area!

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In the spirit of presenting the many sides of an issue . . .

April 16^th, 2009

here is the blog entry from the Right Place,Inc dated April 16th re: the Michigan Future, Inc report I wrote about yesterday. Good points made and I think that acknowledgment from Michigan Future that many recommendations from the past have been taken seriously is really what Right Place would have liked to have seen. That said, I do think there needs to be consensus on the direction for the state and for West Michigan. Right Place is the premier economic development organization in our estimation in the country. Certainly the GRCF support of InnovationWorks in the amount of $500,000 this past fall demonstrates our commitment to the strategies and goals of Right Place, Inc. Talent . . .economic development . . . major focus on how to turn our state around is needed!!!!!

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