Our Work

The Community Foundation provides a variety of charitable funds and gift options to help our partners achieve their vision for a stronger, more vibrant community. By bringing together fund donors, their financial advisors and nonprofit agencies, the Foundation is a powerful catalyst for building charitable giving and effecting positive change in our area.

The Foundation offers the expertise and the structure to assist individuals, families and businesses in effective giving. We are available to help our donors’ financial advisors assist their clients in gaining maximum tax advantages while addressing critical community needs.

The funds managed by the Foundation are invested for the community’s benefit and then are returned to the community in the form of grants to all sorts of charitable endeavors, from the arts to education to the social service sector.

Recognized for its commitment to integrity and sound financial practices, The Community Foundation oversees more than $59,000,000 in assets for our community’s benefit. We are committed to good stewardship of the funds entrusted to us. Sound financial practices protect investment principal from erosion, provide a steady stream of income for grants and add value to investment assets through growth. Legal and financial professionals, experienced staff and a strong Board hold us to the highest standards of excellence in the investment arena.

The Community Foundation is our community’s savings account. Since 1961, we have strengthened our community through effective stewardship of the generosity of past donors and are poised to lead a new generation of givers to address the challenges that face our region.

Grantmaking

Thanks to the foresight of our donors, the Foundation has been a source for both small and large agencies to obtain initial funding, program funding, and transitional funding. Initial gifts to Biomedical Research Institute, Sci-port Discovery Center, Providence House helped these organizations to leverage other funds both locally and nationally. Since inception, we have invested over $36,000,000 in our community!

A grant from the Community Foundation recognizes the significance of the project in our community, and operates as a "seal of approval” to encourage funding from other sources.

We have given gifts to hundreds of local organizations over the years. Some of these are:

Alliance for Education	$832,396
Glen Retirement System	$1,115,015
KDAQ	$599,425
Volunteers of America	$2,346,918
Providence House	$952,012
Sci-Port	$971,029
SRAC	$380,742
Caddo Parish Schools	$288,655

*all figures through August 15, 2009

In addition, we award scholarships to area colleges/students annually. In 2009, the total scholarships awarded exceeds $150,000.

Convening

The Foundation not only provides financial resources but also works to empower our community’s most powerful asset – its people – to serve as a catalyst for positive change. Here are some community initiatives made possible through the Foundation’s leadership:

• Learning to Finish. This multi-disciplined campaign is aimed at improving high school graduation rates. LTF has raised awareness about our high school graduation rates; increased community awareness about the importance of attendance; created a streamlined process to deal more effectively with truants in Caddo Parish; and sponsored Parent Academy to provide information to parents about how to help their children succeed in school.
• Community Counts. In partnership with LSUS, the Foundation publishes an annual report card that benchmarks our area’s progress in 13 quality of life indicators.
• RAND Corporation. The Foundation has contracted with the RAND Corporation to assist our community in identifying ways to create sustained and significant impact in the areas of health, education and poverty by focusing on community investments that lie in the intersection of community needs, community assets and national best practices.
• Arts Congress. The Foundation facilitated the development of policies and strategies by local arts organizations and artists to advance arts and culture in our community.
• Nonprofit Summit. The Foundation helped bring together 93 nonprofit leaders to discuss ways in which the sector could be strengthened for the good of our entire community.
• Nonprofit Health Survey. Joined with LANO and Capital One to determine health of nonprofit sector in light of recent economic downturn.

Our Board