Greater Kansas City Community Foundation

No Tricks, Just Treats

It is not yet Halloween and already my kids have collected way too much candy, earned through their appearances at the school fall festival last night dressed up as a lamb, princess, and detective. But autumn goodies are not just for kids. At the Community Foundation, we are very well aware of the terrific attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors who send clients our way. There is no disguising the fact that these individuals recognize a good thing when they see it. They know that a personal or family fund at the Community Foundation can be a benefit enhanced alternative to a private foundation.  Even when a private foundation makes the most sense, these advisors know that the Community Foundation still can offer high-quality information to help a client fulfill community dreams through the power of giving.

If you are you an accountant, attorney, or financial advisor who has referred a client to the Community Foundation, we soon will be knocking on your door to deliver a small token of our BIG appreciation. This is no trick! So if you are one of these valuable individuals and you do not receive a treat by Thanksgiving, please contact us right away. We will update our records to show that you are a very special professional, and we will send a treat your way.

No tricks, just treats!

Marking the Milestones

The magic number at our house this weekend was seven. Ann celebrated her seventh birthday with pizza, cake, and about seven new Webkinz.

At the Community Foundation, the magic number wasn't seven--it was 10! Because you--and over 20,000 other donors--have so generously invested your charitable dollars in the causes you care about, the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation again ranked in the top 10 among community foundations nationwide, a position it has held every year since 1999. The recently-released annual survey conducted by the Columbus Foundation shows that the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation ranked 3rd in grants distributed, 5th in new contributions and 8th in asset size. The Community Foundation also surpassed a milestone in 2007, reaching $1 billion in grants distributed since it was founded in 1978.

Third, fifth, eighth . . . the rankings are great, but what's really important are the people behind those numbers. This is the community’s foundation, and we take seriously our mission to improve the quality of life in Kansas City by involving everyone—all races and ages and our entire metropolitan area, north, south, east and west—in the joy of making a difference. It's all about community dreams fulfilled through the power of giving—one person at a time. And every gift is a milestone toward a better Kansas City for all of our children, when they are 7, 10 . . . or 70!

Check Us Out--We're Check Marked!

When my first grader brings home papers with a lot of check marks, that is not necessarily a good thing! We work on spelling and math every night to ensure that Ann earns as few check marks as possible. But on DonorEdge®, the check mark--make that the "Check Mark"--is a different animal altogether.

If you've recently navigated www.donoredge.org, no doubt you've noticed the snappy red check mark icon at the top of most DonorEdge® profiles. This is the coveted "Check Mark," which means that the information on the profile is verified and up to date. That, in turn, means that you can browse the profile and be confident that the organization has kept its data current for people like you who want to ensure that their charitable investments in Kansas City nonprofit organizations are achieving measurable improvement in our community's quality of life.

If you notice that your favorite organization is not Check Marked, please contact our nonprofit outreach team. What's important to you is what's important to us, and we will do everything we can to help the organizations that matter most to you join the ranks of the 408 Kansas City nonprofits who have earned the Check Mark. We want every Kansas City nonprofit organization to be able to shout "Check us out! We're Check Marked!"

Retail Therapy--There is Indeed Such a Thing!

If you glanced through the 2006 Annual Report that arrived in your mailbox last week, you caught a glimpse of one of the most wonderful things about the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation: Each of the 1,906 funds under the Community Foundation's umbrella is unique, established to pursue the charitable causes that are important to the individual, family, business or nonprofit organization that established the fund.

This week, it is particularly appropriate to highlight one of those 1,906 funds, established by a donor who observed five years ago that nowhere in Kansas City is the transition from cancer patient to cancer survivor addressed in the form of a survivorship care plan. Thanks to the vision and passion of this donor, who established the Back in the Swing Fund at the Community Foundation, that is changing.

The story began over five years ago, when fighting breast cancer required Barbara Unell to dedicate all of her mental and physical energy to getting her life back. But when she completed her treatment, she realized there were no resources to help her get back into the swing of life. Inspiration came when she read the New York Times article "The News Was Bad...I Went to Bendel's," written by breast cancer survivor Ellen Tien, who said shopping gave her hope that life moves forward. Retail therapy struck a chord with Barbara and became the cornerstone of the Back in the Swing fundraiser.

The fundraiser started with a group of stores in one shopping plaza selling Back in the Swing shopping cards, which gave customers a 20 percent discount on merchandise. Now, as the 5th annual Back in the Swing Retail Therapy event gets underway this Wednesday, nearly 900 stores are participating! Click here to find out where to purchase your Back in the Swing Retail Therapy Shopping Card for just $25, entitling you to discounts and special offers at all participating stores across the metropolitan area. Since its inception, the Back in the Swing Fund has raised over $1 million for cancer survivorship programs. Click here to read about the impact of these dollars right here in Kansas City, improving the quality of life in this community we all care so much about. And enjoy that retail therapy! I always KNEW shopping was good for you!