U.S. Venture Golf Open

August 8

Women's Fund Power of the Purse Luncheon 

September 27

Crime Prevention Foundation of Brown County Luncheon

Date TBD - Usually in late September

Last October the Brown County LIFE Study, a community assessment of all sectors affecting our quality of life, was published. The Community Foundation was one of the three sponsoring organizations of the 2011 Brown County LIFE Study and Regional LIFE Study, along with the Brown County United Way and the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. This past February, the Community Foundation also sponsored and participated in the Brown County 20/20 Conference.

The Brown County 20/20 Conference was developed by the Bay Area Community Council (BACC) to determine what community leaders would want Brown County's vision to be by the year 2020. Over 200 community leaders attended this 1.5 daylong conference. Leaders came together to explore and discuss data regarding the community's concerns found in the 2011 Brown County LIFE Study. The conference generated a vision and bold ideas from five different sectors of life: education, overcoming division, economic development, personal and community health, and self-sufficiency.

By the year 2020, these are the conference attendee's visions for the following five sectors of life:

1. In regards to education, our vision is that education represents a cradle to career approach that utilizes school, community, business, and parent engagement to achieve graduation rates that exceed the mid-point of the state average. It is designed to support a successful transition from the status of student to a contributing member of society and crafted to help children, youth, young adults, and families to be healthy, ready to succeed in school, and achieve financial self-sufficiency.
2. In regards to overcoming divisions, our vision is that we are working together to build our community by overcoming political, cultural, social, and economic divisions.
3. In regards to economic development, our vision is that we consistently seek, promote, and create a sustainable economy and livable community - financially, physically, socially, and environmentally.
4. In regards to personal and community health, our vision is that we have a culture of health and wellness - in mind, body, and spirit - that has minimized reliance on the medical system and exceeds the experience of any other comparable city in the Great Lakes region.
5. In regards to self-sufficiency, our vision is that local families are economically self-sufficient and prepared to meet the needs of older and disabled residents.

Click here to read the full Brown County 20/20 Report.

Local Giving and Philanthropy News

• A Snapshot of the Community Foundation's Donor Advisers. The Community Foundation conducted a survey recently to find out more about Donor Advisers. We had a robust response rate meaning our survey margin of error was less than 4%. Of those who responded: 57% are 61 years or older, 77% have lived 26 or more years in Brown, Kewaunee, and/or Oconto counties and 50% give $15,000 or more to causes every year.
• Charitable Giving on the Rise According to GGBCF. The Community Foundation experienced and monitored strong donations to charities at the end of calendar year 2011, showing that giving is on the rise. Gifts to non-profits are an indicator of family economic security and when families have more disposable income, they give more to charities. National charitable giving has been down since calendar year 2007, which was the year prior to the 2008 major recession, but trends show an increase in giving. Read more.
• GGBCF Awards Scholarships to 118 Students in Past Year. The Community Foundation offers many post high school scholarship programs, set up by donors, to students in Brown, Kewaunee, and Oconto counties. Since May 2011, the Community Foundation has awarded 118 students with scholarships totaling more than $200,000 to attain post-high school education across the United States. Click here for more information on the Community Foundation's scholarship program.  
• Basic Needs Giving Partnership. The Basic Needs Giving Partnership, which is apartnership among the U.S. Venture Open, the J.J. Keller Foundation, the Community Foundation, and other community donors, impacts many low-income and at-risk children, youth, and adults to help them move out of poverty and become self-sufficient. A Community Foundation committee of community volunteers with specialized areas of expertise reviews and evaluates grant applications from collaborations of non-profit organizations. For example, a collaboration between Ecumenical Partnership for Housing and The Salvation Army has helped families without homes in a transitional housing environment. With the support of case management, previously homeless families are able to learn how to maintain a home, become stable wage earners, and learn necessary skills to live independently. In 2011, the program served 30 families, consisting of 37 adults and 60 children. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of these families had complete and positive exits from their transitional housing into affordable housing. Of those who exited the program in 2010, 100% are still in their affordable housing. This is just one of the success stories funded by the Basic Needs Giving Partnership. To make a donation to the Basic Needs Giving Partnership to help move people out of poverty, click here.   
• The Women's Fund of Greater Green Bay endowment recently surpassed the $1.0 million endowment mark. The Women's Fund grants funds annually to programs and services and offer leadership and self-esteem initiatives to women and girls. To make a donation to help fund these type of programs for women and girls in Brown, Kewaunee, and Oconto counties, click here.
• Calendar of Events. Send us your upcoming fundraising events to be added to GGBCF's Calendar of Events. Email event details to ggbcf@ggbcf.org. 

• Big Companies Contributions Still Weak. According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy in November, contributions of cash and products by half of the big companies in 2010 exceeded the sums they donated in 2007, just before the recession took hold. But the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, which examined 184 companies, also found that one-fifth of businesses gave only 25% of the amount they did before the recession. More than half of the companies examined reported that cash giving was lower in 2010 than it was in 2007.      
• Grantmakers Won't Increase Giving in 2012. According to a survey by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 96 foundations offered grantmaking projections for 2012: 68 said they plan to give the same amount this year or less than in 2011. After modest increases in 2009 and 2010, assets slipped last year and have yet to recover to pre-recession levels. On the bright side, 15 of those foundations started new grantmaking programs and 83% of respondents said that they have started to give money to help cover operating costs. Read more.   
• Non-Profits Have a Great Story to Tell. A crucial task for non-profits struggling in the broken economy is to do a much better job talking about the essential role they play serving people and places in need. Stories are also essential in helping investors appreciate nonprofits' own need to build their capacity to learn, lead and grow, as well as the challenges they face in navigating economic stress and social change.  Read more (scroll to middle of page).
• Church Tithes Rose in 2011. According to a survey of 1,360 congregations by Christianity Today, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, 51% of churches say donations increased last year, the first year a majority of congregations saw increases since 2009. The study also found that churches are shifting members away from collection plates during services to electronic forms of giving.

Visit the GGBCF Website Today