Grand Rapids Community Foundation

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.