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EAC WEBCAST with Community Capital Advisors

10/11/2021

Marc Rand, Managing Partner of Community Capital Advisors recently invited Steve Alley and Tony Macklin to join a webcast about community foundations (videos below). Our broad discussion included strategic planning, racial inequities, impact investing, and other trends.

Community Capital Advisors helps community foundations and other place-based funders maximize their local impact by prudently aligning their investment capital, policies and practices with their mission to advance racial equity, inclusive economies, sustainable growth and healthy communities. Marc was the Program Director for Loans and Affordable Housing at Marin Community Foundation and Senior Advisor Bert Feuss was Senior VP of Investments for the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. EAC consultant Erika Seth Davies also advises CCA's work.

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How is your foundation building community resiliency?

10/4/2021

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In 2020, we faced a quartet of tough issues – pandemic, uneven economic recovery, renewed focus on racial injustices, and political divisiveness – that have continued in 2021.

What lessons from the past 18 months is your community foundation carrying forward beyond 2021? How are you helping your organization and your communities be more resilient – the sustained ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from adversity?

We want to hear your answers to those questions, with examples small and large, internal and external. Please email Tony Macklin at tony.macklin@eac-associates.com by October 12 with a couple sentences about your answer and he’ll follow up for additional information. We have some examples below and we know you have your own ideas.

We’ll feature the ideas in the final plenary at the National Conference for Growing Community Foundations and later on this blog. Thank you in advance for your willingness to share your ideas with your peers!

Examples to spark your thinking
Are you changing your practices and policies for the long run?

Streamlined grant programs, more flexible grant programs
HR policies and practices that are more flexible on remote work or family care leave, or that help with long-term trauma recovery
Improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in internal policies and practices
Convening and leadership activities focused on the tough issues

Are you helping nonprofits and communities not just recover but be able to withstand future challenges?

Supporting longer-term health and mental health issues
General operating support, multi-year support, capacity building
New or strengthened collaboratives around more equitable recovery or preparation for future pandemics or disasters

Are you helping people move past divisions toward the brighter futures that can unite your communities?

Community visioning processes
Initiatives that connect people like Everyday Democracy or On the Table
Increasing civic participation between election cycles
Helping donors think differently about inequities, other cultures, other viewpoints

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National Scholarship Displacement Bill

9/11/2021

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Are your scholarship awards closing the gap between what a student has and what they need to attend school? Chances are, if you run a needs-based scholarship program, some of your awards are being displaced.

Representative Andy Kim of New Jersey plans to introduce a national scholarship displacement bill in September. A working draft is attached below.

The Adams County Community Foundation in Gettysburg, PA is advocating for this bill which is focused on transparency and data, and would require universities to notify students if their scholarship is displaced. The bill also calls for a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study of the frequency and demographics of scholarship award displacement.

Rep. Kim is seeking support from scholarship providers in all 50 states. If any scholarship provider would like to join the Adams County Community Foundation and be listed as a supporting organization, please let me know. Rep. Kim would be notified of your support and reach out to members of Congress in your district in an effort to seek their support.

If you have questions or would like to be listed as a supporting organization, please email me at rserpe@adamscountycf.org so that Congressman Kim's office is alerted.

You can learn more about scholarship displacement here: https://central-scholarship.org/advocacy/scholarship-award-displacement/ and here: https://www.disscholared.org/

Many thanks,
Ralph Serpe
President & CEO, Adams County Community Foundation (PA)
Consultant, Ekstrom Alley Clontz & Associates

helping_students_plan_for_college_act_of_2021_discussion_draft.pdf
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EAC Online and In the News

9/21/2020

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The EAC team is continuing to grow the knowledge and skills of foundations and their stakeholders.

Sep. 2 – Balancing Purpose, Payout, and Permanence
Senior Consultant Tony Macklin wrote new guides and led a webinar for the Council on Foundations and National Center for Family Philanthropy. They help foundations reflect more deeply on how they choose to balance four factors in payout—purpose, conditions and trends, time horizons, and assets for mission—especially in times of greater crisis or opportunity.

Sep. 3 – Senior Partner Bryan Clontz wrote about the Tax Implications For Donations Of Bitcoin for Forbes

Sep. 22 or 24 – Unique Benefits of Donating S-Corp Stock Under the CARES Act
Bryan is speaking on two webinars (same on both dates) to learn about the nuances and benefits of charitable gifts of S-Corp stock as a result of the CARE Act.

Sep. 22 – Changing the Racial Justice Algorithm
Consultant Erika Seth Davies joins other experts on this call for ImpactAlpha’s subscribers.

Oct. 7-9 – 2020 CGP Conference
Bryan is leading a session on Gift Acceptance Models that Work: Building on Opportunities for Non-Cash Gifts.

Oct. 7-8 – 2020 Community Foundations Family Philanthropy Network Workshop
Tony is organizing and facilitating this annual workshop for the National Center for Family Philanthropy’s members.

Oct. 26-27 – 2020 Annual National Conference for Growing Community Foundations
EAC is a sponsor of this annual conference and Managing Partner Steve Alley is presenting two sessions: Rethinking How To Find Good Board Members And Keep Them On Board And Evolve Your Board Meetings As Your Foundation Evolves on the 26th and Drowning In the Sea of Opportunity, Why Can't We Get Anything Done on the 27th.

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EAC On the Air and Online in 2020

7/2/2020

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The Ekstrom Alley Clontz team has missed being on the road and talking with our clients and their stakeholders in person. Like you, we’ve been on tons of conference calls and video chats to keep clients’ projects moving forward. We’ve also been speaking, facilitating, and writing online to help foundations and their allies make the world a better place.

Jan. 9 – Here's how some colleges 'displace' your private scholarship so it doesn't benefit you
Ralph Serpe advises donors and scholarship managers to ensure scholarships deliver the results that donors hope for and that students need.

Mar. 6 – The Real Money is in Assets (45 min.)
The Gift Planning Development Podcast hosted Bryan Clontz to discuss non-cash assets and how they can dramatically improve fundraising outcomes.

Mar. 23 – Expand Your Comfort Zone: Taking (and Taming) Risks in Philanthropy (58 min.)
Tony Macklin led this session for the Jewish Funder’s Network 2020 conference. JFN had already started scenario planning processes (a risk taming strategy) to think about the impact of the pandemic on philanthropy and later shared this free toolkit for other foundations and nonprofits.

Apr. 21 – The Results are in! The Secrets of Successful Gift Annuity Programs from the 2019 Joint ACGA-CGP Survey
Bryan joined a virtual panel at the American Council on Gift Annuities annual conference

May – Bryan penned a series of articles for Forbes on establishing and managing Employee Relief Funds.

May 21 – Community Foundations in the Evolving Landscape of Family Philanthropy Services
Tony facilitated a conversation on how community foundations can better define and communicate their value proposition in an increasingly crowded field of philanthropic and family advising expertise. Recording available to members of AdNet and NCFP.

Jun. 3 – Addressing Racism in the Asset Management Industry (13 min.)
Erika Seth Davies spoke with the Beeck Center on addressing racism in the asset management industry, and why the events of these past weeks show why it's always the right time to talk about this. The video was a follow-up to her May 27 article Hiding in Plain Sight: Racism in the Room Made Visible by COVID-19 and How to Create New Pathways

And Coming Up…

July 8 – Policy and Practice: Critical Strategies for Dismantling Structural Racism
Erika kicks off a free webinar series for SOCAP 365 to look at best practices, tangible examples and next steps for action for system-level conversations with a hyper-local lens.

July 10 and 29 – Hiding in Plain Sight
Erika will host a two-part webinar for the Beeck Center on the issue of racism in the asset management industry.

Aug. 19 – Involving Donors in Community Crises and Leadership Opportunities
Tony will host a peer learning webinar sponsored by the Council of Michigan Foundations, Philanthropy Ohio, and Indiana Philanthropy Alliance.

Aug. 20 – Community Foundation Business Models for Family Philanthropy
Tony will facilitate NCFP’s fourth annual deep dive into how community foundations structure their business models for more intensive services to multi-generation and multi-branch families. (NCFP members only)

Oct. 26-27 – 2020 Annual National Conference for Growing Community Foundations
Stay tuned for the team’s involvement in the first online version of this popular gathering.

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5/6/20 Teleconference for Clients: Brave communications in an unsettled world

4/22/2020

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How do you keep moving forward (personally, professionally and for, with, and within the community) when the ground underneath you continues to shift? EAC invites our clients to an online conversation - Wednesday, May 6, 2020, 1 - 2 p.m. EST - on how the current pandemic impacts us, our work, and our communities: for one hour. Leading the conversation will be EAC Managing Partner Steve Alley and Stacey Cox, PhD. Stacey and Steve originally met and became friends when she was on the board of the Grant County Community Foundation in Silver City, NM, a board she now chairs. Stacey is a psychologist, coach and consultant who specializes in individual and community trauma and resilience, along with nervous system health, all of which she believes are inextricably linked. A native of New Mexico, Stacey is also a veteran of the non-profit sector, having served as a CEO for over 20 years. For more info on Stacey, click here.

Stacey Cox, PhD

More About the Conversation
The whole world is concerned about their inability to think clearly. This is a symptom of nervous system dysregulation. We should normalize it for people and for our communities. And, as the world “opens up”, these are the truths we should be aware of:

We need to realize that we will continue to be re-traumatized as “cells” of Covid19 re-emerge.
It’s time to review our core systems, especially non-sensical silo-ed funding systems, which are now clearly exposed, and are, often, in the way of service.
Many people are likely to have at least mild short-term PTSD, and it’s more likely in Nonprofits due to the types of people drawn to the work.
Together we are experiencing community trauma. We cannot heal in isolation. Community traumas are healed in community.
Now is the time to build trauma sensitive and trauma informed orgs so we can heal together.
When we are finally able to work in the same place again, we can’t pretend everything is the same. Pretending will make the trauma worse. We know traumatized people need a plan and some idea about what to expect - even if it’s just for a day.

Please join us as we discuss these critical issues and share suggestions, stories and ideas of how you can become more grounded and aware as we all work to stabilize ourselves, staff, stakeholders, and our community.

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EAC on the Road and Online - Fall 2019

9/3/2019

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View outside an airplane window showing clouds and an airplane wing

The EAC team is helping community foundations and their advisors learn effective philanthropy strategies in a number of ways this fall:

Sep. 5 – The Melton Family Case: Climbing the Philanthropic Learning Curve
Tony is co-presenting this national webinar for NAEPC and Trusts & Estates, applicable for your asset development staff and professional advisors.

Sep. 17 – 2019 Building Unrestricted West Virginia
Ralph is presenting the keynote on Building Unrestricted West Virginia progress and lessons learned

Sep. 18 – 2019 Pennsylvania Community Foundation Gathering
Ralph is presenting two sessions: Scholarship Displacement and Building Unrestricted Assets

Oct. 27-29 – National Conference for Growing Community Foundations
EAC is an annual sponsor of this terrific conference. You can find team members at our sponsor booth and presenting or co-presenting at these sessions:

It’s Almost Halloween, But It Doesn’t Need to Be Scary: Taking the Fear Out of Community Leadership – Tony Macklin
27 Things That Community Foundations Do That Drive Me Nuts And How To Address A Few Of Them – Bryan Clontz
Powerful Planned Giving with a Shoe-String Staff and a Shoe-String Budget – Bryan Clontz
Peer Expert Consultations – Brian Frederick
Gifts of Land, Timber and Mineral Resources...Oh My! – Bryan Clontz
How To Grow In An Intelligent Strategic Manner – Steve Alley
"Old School Meets New School" Trends and Changing Conversation – Brian Frederick

Nov. 13 – Southeastern Council of Foundations 50th Annual Meeting
Tony is facilitating the community foundation pre-conference workshop on developing a portfolio of philanthropic services.

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Free Multi-Point Inspection for Community Foundation Donor Work

4/17/2019

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Your community foundation is in the midst of the greatest transfer of wealth in history. Much of the wealth is tied up in non-cash assets and/or in complex ownership structures. The recipients of the wealth are younger, more often female, and more diverse (ethnicity, gender identity, faith, and more) than your current donor base, your board, and your professional advisor council. Your peers and competitors haven’t just ramped up to accept the assets; they’re ramping up sophisticated services to court and retain the recipients of the wealth. State and federal charitable giving, estate planning, and taxation laws keep evolving.

It’s a rough road ahead for community foundations. Are your policies and practices tuned up for the trip? Are your vehicles and services still attractive given all the other new models out there?

EAC's new, free Multi-Point Inspection can help you diagnose the ability of your asset development, professional advisor, and philanthropic services programs to stay relevant in the coming years. You can download the PDF below, encourage each staff member to fill it out, and discuss the results as a group.

After you've completed your inspection, we invite you to email a copy to Steve to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation with an EAC team member. We're happy to help you interpret the results and provide quick tips on tune-ups and major repairs to smooth the journey ahead.

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EAC Team on the Road and Online Q2 2019

3/25/2019

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Photo by William Bout on Unsplash

The EAC team is helping foundations develop their philanthropic strategies in the following venues next quarter:

Apr. 2 – Brian is presenting The role of philanthropy to support change: Transfer of wealth and the power of community philanthropy to transform regional futures for the Beechworth Festival of Change in Australia
Apr. 7-10 – We are a proud sponsor of the AdNet 2019 Conference in New Orleans. Tony will be attending on behalf of EAC and Bryan Clontz will be there as an exhibitor with his firm, Charitable Solutions. They’ll also be leading a short workshop and are looking forward to seeing you there!
Apr. 9 - Steve is speaking on the Council on Foundations' webinar Continued Learning: Trends in Professional Development for Community Foundations
Apr. 11-12 – Tony is facilitating parts of the Midwest Community Foundation Gathering: Impacting the Economic Health and Vitality of our Communities in Fort Wayne
May 8 – Steve is leading the Strategic Planning and Thinking webinar for the Tri-State Community Foundation Series
Jun 6-8 – Tony is leading an interactive workshop, The Glitter and Scrutiny of Donor Advised Funds and the Connection to Community Foundation Business Models, for the Community Foundations of Canada’s All In 2019 Conference

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EAC Team on the Road and Online Q1 2019

1/7/2019

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Photo by Nils Nedel on Unsplash

The EAC team is helping foundations and donors learn effective philanthropy in the following venues this quarter:

Jan. 22 – Erika is co-facilitating a Racial Equity Retreat for Confluence Philanthropy in California
Feb. 28 – Tony is facilitating the Building Blocks for Successful Family Philanthropy webinar for the National Center for Family Philanthropy
Mar. 12-14 – Tony is facilitating sessions on place-based impact investing and managing family dynamics for the 2019 Colorado Impact Days
Mar. 22-26 – Erika is speaking at the 2019 Mission Investing Institute in New York

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EAC WEBCAST with Community Capital Advisors

How is your foundation building community resiliency?

National Scholarship Displacement Bill

EAC Online and In the News

EAC On the Air and Online in 2020

5/6/20 Teleconference for Clients: Brave communications in an unsettled world

Register to RECEIVE the Private GotoMeeting link

EAC on the Road and Online - Fall 2019

Free Multi-Point Inspection for Community Foundation Donor Work

EAC Team on the Road and Online Q2 2019

EAC Team on the Road and Online Q1 2019

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