Insights

Posted on April 15, 2019 – Posted by:

Summer Camp Q & A with Ruth Bishop

For over a decade, 3,500 local campers have had the opportunity to attend summer camps each year through Access Camp grants. These grants provide funding to local camps so that they can offer scholarships to…
Posted on March 25, 2019 – Posted by:

PARTNERS in Community, Spring 2019

The spring issue of Grand Rapids Community Foundation’s magazine, PARTNERS in community, focuses on growth. Below you will find a few links to featured stories, but click here to read the entire magazine! You will…
Posted on February 27, 2019 – Posted by:

Growing a Dream: Challenge Scholars Dream Fund

What’s in a dream? A dream is like a seed of something beautiful. Something necessary and beneficial. But it needs the right conditions to grow. It needs to germinate by means of fertile soil, adequate…
Posted on January 29, 2019 – Posted by:

A Legacy of Family Giving

How do you wish your life to be remembered? What legacy do you want to leave? These are the questions answered with effective estate planning. Generations of people have built our community’s endowment through planned…
Posted on January 14, 2019 – Posted by:

How to Make Your Scholarship Essay Stand Out

Through these essay tips, you will be able to create a strong essay about yourself for the scholarship application.
Posted on December 29, 2018 – Posted by:

Hopes and Dreams for 2019

What are you most proud of in 2018? What are you striving for or working toward in 2019? The end of the year is a time for reflection, but also for dreaming and hoping. Here…
Posted on December 21, 2018 – Posted by:

Four Tax Friendly Charitable Giving Strategies

Recent changes to the tax law have people wondering if they should change their charitable giving strategies. While the law is changing how charitable giving is deducted for some individuals, there are several beneficial giving…
Posted on December 20, 2018 – Posted by:

Annual Report 2017-2018

2017-2018 Annual Report A community is defined by the people who call it home. Our community has the potential to be anything we want it to be. There is potential everywhere in West Michigan—potential that…
Posted on December 14, 2018 – Posted by:

PARTNERS in Community, Winter 2018

This winter’s PARTNERS in community focuses on legacy. Below you will find a few links to featured articles, but click here to read the entire magazine! You’ll read stories of two leaders making an impact…
Posted on December 04, 2018 – Posted by:

Youth in Philanthropy

This past October, Rob Collier, former president of the Council for Michigan Foundations, invited me to be a closing plenary speaker for the CMF Annual Conference. The featured speaker for the event was Frans Johansson,…
Posted on November 20, 2018 – Posted by:

Why I Give: A Conversation with Jenine Torres

For nearly a century, Grand Rapids Community Foundation has been in the business of understanding our community’s needs. Sometimes, as a development officer, I wonder how our founders could even comprehend the impact this organization…
Posted on November 16, 2018 – Posted by:

California Wildfires 2018: How You Can Help

The 2018 wildfire season has devastated communities throughout California due to high temperatures and dry conditions. The Camp Fire in Butte County is the deadliest and most destructive in California history with a death toll…