Door County Community Foundation

January 2015

Inspiring People to
Give Back to
Sustain and Advance the
Community We Love

I've always liked my first column of the New Year to be optimistic and thought provoking. In years past I've written about the relationship between religion and giving, how giving enriches the soul, and how helping others helps us enjoy life more.

This year I was having difficulty coming up with a concept for my first column of 2015 when my youngest son, Kekoa, suggested I write about pineapples. He said that we don't celebrate the pineapple nearly as much as we should. Having been born and raised in Hawaii, I know a little about pineapples, so I pondered for a bit to see if there was anything we could learn from Kekoa's favorite fruit. Admittedly it took a little time, but when you examine the pineapple a bit more closely, you'll see there are some very important lessons on how to lead a sweeter life.

A pineapple taught me the value of hard work. While there aren't many pineapple fields in Door County, they were ubiquitous when I was growing up in Hawaii. A pineapple plant is a rosette with a radiating cluster of sword-shaped leaves covered with spiny tips and thorny edges. The pineapple fruit itself grows at the center of the plant with a prickly crown on top.

Picking pineapples in the field is a challenging experience. Imagine tens of thousands of these plants growing in rows with their razor sharp leaves overlapping one another. Walking into the field to pick one without getting sliced to shreds is no easy task.

Read the rest of "Lessons from a Pineapple" in the Peninsula Pulse.

Happy New Year - or as they say in Hawaii, Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

Bret N. Bicoy, President & CEO

In This Issue

Non-Profit Education: Business Principles in the Charitable World

Upcoming Community Foundation Grant Deadlines

Endowments in Action: Door CANcer

Give Door County Publications Available for Download

Board of Directors

Dave Eliot, Chair

Polly Alberts, Vice Chair

Dick Egan, Secretary

Richard Hauser, Treasurer

John Herlache, Past Chair

Bill Boettcher

Jacinda Duffin
Mike Felhofer

Mark Jinkins

Linda Laarman

Frank Maxwell

Michael McCoy

Kaaren Northrop

Sally O'Brien

Nancy Sargent

Marcia Smith

Jane Stevenson

Donate Today!

Make an instant donation using a credit card to any of the Funds of the Door County Community Foundation. Give back online today!

Or contact us to talk about creating a Fund in your family's name - either today or in your estate plans.

Follow Us Online

For the latest news on charity in Door County, read our publications and previous issues of our Newsletter, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.

Non-Profit Education: Bringing Business Principles to the Charitable World

Lean Six Sigma: Non-Profit Leadership in the Trenches is the topic for the latest in the free Non-Profit Education Series sponsored by the Door County Community Foundation, the Raibrook Foundation, and the United Way of Door County.

This session is on Wednesday, February 4th at the Lodge at Leathem Smith (1640 Memorial Drive in Sturgeon Bay). Check in and breakfast start at 8 a.m. and the session runs from 8:30 a.m. to Noon. Register by email to juile@raibrookfoundation.com or call (920) 746-2995 x102.

Lean Six Sigma: Non-Profit Leadership in the Trenches will be led by Kinga N. Jacobson, a Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma, a highly regarded quality management business practice. She is an accomplished business consultant with extensive experience in management and coaching. Jacobson is also a published author and a frequent public speaker and training facilitator in process of earning her doctoral credential.

Juggling responsibilities? Prioritizing funds usage? Managing volunteers? Handling money? Streamlining operations? Safeguarding reputation? If any of this sounds familiar, this session is for you. Basic six sigma tools of defining, measuring, analyzing, improving, and controlling your non-profit's operations can make a huge difference in your organization's effectiveness and outcomes.

"We've incorporated these quality management practices into the Community Foundation and that has allowed us to operate with remarkable efficiency," say Bret Bicoy, President & CEO of the Door County Community Foundation and a graduate of Motorola University's Six Sigma Methodology program. "We have minimal administrative staff and yet are able to maintain a remarkably low error rate with our financial transactions."

During this session, attendees will work through methods such as Voice of the Customer, Critical to Quality, Process Mapping, SIPOC, Fish Bone Diagram, Benchmarking, Five Whys, and Quality Cycles to help you pinpoint non-value added time and hidden factory while capitalizing on industry best practices for strategizing priorities, improving communications, and streamlining operations.

"These business practices are just as valuable to the non-profit community as they are to the for-profit world," says Bicoy.

Lean Six Sigma: Non-Profit Leadership in the Trenches will leave you with ready-to-implement solutions for reduced overhead and smoother processes, allowing you to focus on accomplishing your core organizational mission.

Lean Six Sigma: Non-Profit Leadership in the Trenches is on Wednesday, February 4th at the Lodge at Leathem Smith. Check in and breakfast start at 8 a.m. and the session runs from 8:30 a.m. to Noon. Please register in advance by email to juile@raibrookfoundation.com or call (920) 746-2995 x102.

Upcoming Community Foundation Grant Deadlines

Several of the Community Foundation's granting programs have deadlines coming up later this winter.

The Door County Service Club Coalition's Youth Mini-Grant programs are accepting applications for the current school year. These youth focused grants are relatively easy to obtain with a simple handwritten application and short presentation to the review committee. The most important criteria is that the young people are involved in the planning and presentation of the idea.

Youth as Resources Grants provide financial support to projects in which youth use their skills, talents and abilities to serve or educate others. Grants average $200 with a maximum of $500, although exceptional projects may qualify for higher levels of funding. Any youth group comprised primarily of residents of Door County, be it organized or informal, may apply. Give Door County

Youth in Theatre Grants provide financial support to Door County theatrical productions in which youth play a significant role in its production and/or on-stage performance (including school plays).The maximum grant is $500. Any charitable, educational, civic or youth group comprised primarily of residents of Door County be it organized or informal, may apply.

As a part of the review process, at least one youth representative from your group is required to present your project idea. The Youth Presentation should not exceed 5 minutes and will be followed by questions. High school age students are expected to make their presentation without any assistance from an adult. Middle school age children may be prompted and assisted by an adult. Elementary school age children should be available to answer questions, but an adult may make the presentation.

Remaining deadlines during this school year are March 2 and May 1. Visit the Community Foundation online to learn more.

The Community Foundation's Sustainability Grants are also accepting applications. Sustainability grants provide the critical operational support for the charities that sustain our quality of life in Door County. These are rarely glamorous and are usually not the big ideas that stir one's soul. But this operational support is essential to the programs that sustain the parts of Door County that we love - and alleviate the challenges faced by working families because of the seasonal nature of our economy.

Through the application for a Sustainability Grant, a non-profit organization might receive assistance from the Arts Fund, the Children & Youth Fund, the Education Fund, the Green Fund, the Health & Human Needs Fund, and/or the Historic Preservation Fund. There no longer are separate applications for each of these Discretionary Funds as there were in the past.

Sustainability Grants are due on the 1st Thursday of January, April, July, and October. Application information and materials are available on the Community Foundation's website.

Please contact Christine Henkel at (920) 746-1786 or if you have any questions or would like an informal assessment of your idea prior to the submission of a formal application.

If you'd like more information about how you can incorporate a gift to the Door County community through your estate plans, please do not hesitate to contact us or just call (920) 746-1786. Give today, or give your estate plans. Just remember to Give Door County!

Endowments in Action: Door CANcer

The Community Foundation is honored to administer the Door CANcer Fund.

DOOR CANcer, Inc. is a community based charitable organization dedicated to helping Door County residents with financial needs during treatment for cancer. It strives to make life a little easier for families who are living with cancer by offering financial assistance with the costs of everyday living. While DOOR CANcer does not pay medical bills or cover prescription drugs, the organization will

assist families with rent or mortgage payments, insurance premiums, transportation and lodging costs related to treatment, utility bills, food for the family and other non-medical expenses as determined appropriate. DOOR CANcer does not employ any staff - all time is donated.

Recipients must reside in Door County and be in active treatment for cancer. Generally, no funds are awarded directly to the applicant. Payment coupons or account numbers must be provided to DOOR CANcer and payment will be made directly to the company or vendor owed.

Please consider incorporating gift to this endowment in your estate plans. Speak with your attorney, accountant or other estate planning professional. Or contact the Community Foundation and we'd be glad to help facilitate your generosity.

Many charities entrust the administration of their endowment funds to the Community Foundation. It's a safe and responsible way to manage endowed gifts, long-term assets or operational reserves.

The non-profit community also counts on the Community Foundation's planned giving expertise to facilitate gifts into their endowments. By aggregating these assets under the umbrella of the Community Foundation, economies of scale allow for a far more diversified investment portfolio and lower investment fees than any of the charities could achieve on their own.

Give Door County Publications Available for Download

The Community Foundation produces several publications and information sheets to help you craft a strategy to give back in the most effective - and tax efficient - way possible. Those documents are now available for anyone to download from GiveDoorCounty.org. Give Door County

You'll find publications like our our Guide to Endowments which highlights different charities so families have options to consider when giving back - either today or through their estate plans.

You can download an Introductory Brochure that explains the most popular charitable Funds at the Community Foundation - along with information sheets for Donor Advised Funds, Discretionary Funds, Scholarship Funds and more.

If you'd like a hard copy of any of these documents, just contact us and and we'd be glad to send them to you. And if you're an attorney, accountant, investment adviser, or trust officer, we'll send a supply of Guides, Introductory Brochures, or other materials (and display holders) for use in your office. Just contact us at the Community Foundation.

This is just another way the Community Foundation is encouraging people to give back to sustain the community we love!

The Door County Community Foundation is a catalyst, building and strengthening community by convening groups of people and organizations that want to make a difference in our world. We make it possible for a wide range of donors to meet present and future needs by creating charitable funds without incurring the costs of starting and administering a private foundation. The Door County Community Foundation was founded in 1999 and is governed by a local volunteer Board of Directors.

Inspiring People to Give Back to Sustain and Advance the Community We Love.