Greater Kansas City Community Foundation

What part of "no" don’t you understand?

What is every toddler's favorite word? I'll give you a hint. It has two letters and begins with "n." "Time for bed, Eva!" "Nooooooo," she said insistently last night, catapulting herself across our bed to escape my reach. "Nooooo!"

It's really too bad that we don't carry a little bit of that toddler "no" instinct into adulthood when it comes to demands on our volunteer time and our charitable dollars. We spend so much energy regretting commitments that aren't our passion and then figuring out clever ways to turn an already-out-there "yes" into a "no."

My friend and colleague, Roxie Jerde, reminded us all at a management team meeting last week that we need to ask ourselves what we are saying "no" to when we say "yes" to something else. This is so true!

Fortunately, when it comes to charitable giving priorities, the Community Foundation can help! Roxie and her team have developed a nifty tool called the Charitable Investment Review that can help you diagnose a few "yes" investments that should have been "no" investments . . . . and vice versa! We all want to make a difference with our time and money. And, as with anything worthwhile, that means saying "no" to some opportunities that don't have a direct impact on the results we want to achieve.

Does that sound good? YES!

Contact Roxie to learn more about the Charitable Investment Review.

Can you hear me now?

If there ever were a day designed perfectly for a trip to the zoo, Saturday was it! The Kansas City Zoo just keeps getting better and better, and Saturday did not disappoint. It was a wonderful outing. For Lindy, my four-year-old, the highlight of the excursion was a tie between the animals and the promise of junk food at the end of the trip. Every so often a little voice would chirp from the stroller to remind me of my commitment. "What did you say, Lindy? You want to see the cheetahs?" "No," she said. "I want Cheetos." Over by the gorillas she piped up again. "Oh, shall we see the chimps next?" I said. "No, mommy, I said chips. CHIPS!"

What a helpful reminder that good listening skills are a must! Not just at the zoo, but at the Community Foundation, where what's important to you is what's important to us. We promise to listen closely to the charitable causes that are most important to you, and then help you design a charitable plan to achieve the community results you want. As always, you can learn more about these and other services on our Web site.

Oh, and here's a corollary to the "listen well" rule: Read carefully. Which is something my mother and I failed to do. At 5:45, we were settled in on a bench by the giraffes, letting the kids play, when it dawned on me that the zoo might actually have a closing time. I pulled the map out of the stroller, and, sure enough, the zoo had closed at 5:00! Two adults, two strollers, and a seven-year-old, running wildly from Africa to the exit. Now that's a visual that should start your week with a chuckle!

In it for the long haul

I called the house last Thursday evening to let everyone know that I was running a little late. Ann answered the phone. "How was school today?" I asked. Here was her response: "GooOOOOoooOOOOoooOOOOOOoood!" To get the full effect, you have to hit every note on the scale with gusto as you belt out the word in exuberant song. "What was THAT?" I asked Ann. "Oh," she said, "That was 'good' in opera."

What a great idea to linger on such a positive note! Some matters are just not meant to be dealt with in haste. Kind of like the Community Foundation's "Time to Get It Right" leadership initiative. Its premise is that our region must invest in quality education--from pre-Kindergarten to postgraduate--for all of our children, especially the historically underserved Latino and African-American kids. These children are the economy of our future. They deserve a long-term strategy.

You can bet that 10 years from now I'll still be talking about "Time to Get It Right." That's how committed we are at the Community Foundation--board, staff, and interested donors--to investing in Kansas City. Make that "Kansas City" in opera: "KaNNnssSssaAAAaaass CiiiiitttttttttyyyYYYyy!" Music to my ears!

A bright idea

Sometimes it takes a seven-year-old to tell you that you are in a wardrobe rut. My closet has been full of dark colors for as long as I can remember. So I am not quite sure what possessed me a couple of weeks ago to buy a bright orange jacket at Nordstrom's. "Are you going to wear that?" Ann asked with a twinkle in her eye as I headed out the door to work last Tuesday. "Yes," I said. Surprising myself that I sincerely valued her opinion, I added cautiously "Do you think I should?" "Oh, sure," she replied. "It will be fun." And it actually was!

It never hurts to try something new. If you've been thinking about setting up your own personal, corporate, or family foundation fund at the Community Foundation, maybe it's time to take the leap. Establish your fund for less than you might think. Total up your charitable giving budget for the year, and that's a good starting point. Then you can make your 2008 donations out of your fund and see first hand why 189 new families, individuals, and business got started at the Community Foundation last year alone. And guess what? It's fun!

The price is right, too. The minimum fee--a grant to our mission--is just $21 a month, or $250 per year. That's less than my orange jacket.