communityworks: everything changed

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In 2003 a oundation with a statewide mission set out to build a strong network o partners. Community oundations around the state took up the challenge. And everything changed.

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Page 1: Communityworks: Everything Changed

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In 2003 a oundation with a statewide

mission set out to build a strong network

o partners. Community oundations

around the state took up the challenge.

And everything changed.

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From isolation

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to collaboration

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Grand Victoria Foundation

Nancy Fishman230 W. Monroe Street, Suite 2530

Chicago, Illinois 60606

312 609-0200

grandvictoriadn.org

Community Foundation

o Central Illinois

Mark Roberts

331 Fulton Street, Suite 310

Peoria, Illinois 61602

309 674-8730communityoundationci.org

Community Foundation

o East Central Illinois

Joan Dixon

404 West Church Street

Champaign, Illinois 61820

217 359-0125

ceci.org

The Community Foundation o

Decatur/Macon County

Lucy Murphy

125 North Water Street, Suite 200

Decatur, Illinois 62523

217 429-3000

endowdecatur.org

Community Foundation

o the Great River Bend

Susan Skora

852 Middle Road, Suite 100

Bettendor, Iowa 52722

563 326-2840

cgrb.org

 

Community Foundation

o the Quincy Area

Jill Blickhan

P.O. Box 741

Quincy, Illinois 62306

217 222-1237

mycommunityoundation.org

DeKalb County

Community FoundationDan Templin

The Atrium Ofce Center

2600 DeKalb Avenue

Sycamore, Illinois 60178

815 748-5383

dekalbcountyoundation.org

The DuPage

Community Foundation

Dave McGowan

104 E. Roosevelt Road, Suite 204Wheaton, Illinois 60187

630 665-5556

dcdn.org

Efngham County

Community Foundation

and Mattoon Area

Community Foundation 

Joedy Hightower

300 East Washington

P.O. Box 1211Efngham, Illinois 62401

217 342-4988 Efngham

efnghamoundation.org

217 235-2500 Mattoon

mattoonoundation.org

Evanston Community

Foundation

Sara Schastok

1007 Church Street, Suite 108

Evanston, Illinois 60201847 492-0990

evanstonorever.org

Community Foundation

o Kankakee River Valley 

Norm Strasma

105 East Court Street

Kankakee, Illinois 60901

815 939-1611

endowtheuture.org

McHenry County

Community FoundationKate Halma

P.O. Box 1844

Woodstock, Illinois 60098

815 338-4483

mccdn.org

 

The Moline Foundation

Joy Boru

817 11th Avenue

Moline, Illinois 61265

309 736-3800molineoundation.org

Community Foundation

o Grundy County

Julie Buck

102 N. Liberty Street

Morris, Illinois 60450

815 941-0852

cgrundycounty.com

Oak Park - River ForestCommunity Foundation

Sophia Lloyd

1049 Lake Street, Suite 204

Oak Park, Illinois 60301

708 848-1560

oprc.org

Sangamon County

Community Foundation

John Stremsterer

One West Old State Capitol Plaza,Suite 816

Springfeld, Illinois 62701

217 789-4431

scc.us

Southern Illinois

Community Foundation

Pat Bauer

201 West DeYoung Street

Marion, Illinois 62959

618 997-3700

sic.org

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Community Foundation

o Central Illinois

Community Foundation

o East Central Illinois

The Community Foundation o

Decatur/Macon County

Community Foundation

o Grundy County

Community Foundation

o the Quincy Area

Community Foundation

o the Great River Bend

DeKalb County

Community Foundation

The DuPage

Community Foundation

Efngham County

Community Foundation

Mattoon Area

Community Foundation

Evanston Community

Foundation

Community Foundation

o Kankakee River Valley

McHenry County

Community Foundation

The Moline

Foundation

Sangamon CountyCommunity Foundation

Southern Illinois

Community Foundation

Grand Victoria Foundation

Oak Park-River Forest

Community Foundation

Southeastern Illinois

Community Foundation

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Financial and technical support to build leadership,

communications, and capacity to raise and manage unds:

$50,000/year, two years operating support, part o which

could be used or salary

$50,000 2:1 challenge grant or Communityworks

endowment

Participation in Learning Support Network

Financial and technical support to deploy

capacities on one or more target issues:

 

$60,000/year, three years general operating support

$200,000 1:1 challenge grant or

Communityworks endowment

Community convenings

Development o community impact plan

Participation in Learning Support Network

Communityworks Phase I

May 2003–May 2005

Communityworks Phase II

June 2005–May 2008

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Communityworks. The change so ar.

Five years ago, the Grand Victoria Foundation

was a young Illinois oundation with limited assets

and an ambitious statewide agenda or improving

early childhood care and education, workorce

development, and land use and protection. To develop

thoughtul, place-based programs and attract local

resources, Grand Victoria decided it needed partners.

It launched Communityworks, a $12 million, ve-

year initiative to expand the capacity and infuence

o Illinois community oundations and collaborate

with them. Drawing on interviews and reports

rom seventeen community oundations and Grand

Victoria, this report examines how it worked, what

lessons emerged, and what comes next.

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What do private oundations do? The traditional answer is, give away money. By this

logic, a statewide oundation like Illinois’ Grand Victoria Foundation would give away

money around the state. But Illinois is a big state: nearly 13 million people, organized

into 102 counties and hundreds o local governments, with dramatic upstate/downstate

and rural/urban disparities. Grand Victoria wanted to take on big issues, including early

childhood care and education, workorce development, and land use and protection.

How could one grantmaker, with $50 million in total assets, possibly make a dierence

on those issues in Illinois?

Grand Victoria started by rethinking its role. Instead o going solo, suppose it could

 be part o an ensemble? Instead o struggling to gure out needs and opportunities in

Decatur, Carbondale, and Quincy, suppose it ound local partners who could share

their knowledge? Instead o simply making its own grants, could it expand philanthropic

resources in Illinois, especially outside the Chicago metro region?

Recent years have seen many oundations rethinking their role. They are moving

 beyond grantmaking to convene stakeholders, invest in research and capacity building,

 build networks, and share inormation. Grand Victoria made those ideas central to

its approach.

Grand Victoria also picked up on the increasing interest in community philanthropy,

energized by a new generation o donors, new nancial instruments, and new technologies.

Other private oundations—notably Lilly, Kellogg, Mott, and Irvine—were investing in

their states’ community oundations. Grand Victoria decided to seek partners among

community oundations in Illinois. At the time, in 2001, Illinois community oundations

(except in Chicago) were a largely underdeveloped sector. Some had just gotten started.

Others had been around or decades but were inactive. Only a handul had assets above

$10 million.

And then there was another denition problem: What do community oundations

do? The traditional answer has been, they manage the assets and carry out the

wishes o local donors and work with the local nonprots they wish to support. Several

Illinois oundations acknowledged the importance or their communities o the issues

Grand Victoria was raising. Communities in the Chicago metro area struggle with growth

and land conservation issues; aging industrial cities know that they need a better

trained workorce; and everyone recognizes the importance o early childhood learning.

But community oundations generally did not see tackling such issues as their role.

Their role was to work with local donors and help them support local organizations.

The thinking changed.

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Grand Victoria oered them the opportunity, and the resources, to change that model.

It would help them build their capacity and their endowments, i they would consider

expanding their role, listening to their community, and creating and implementing

 plans to address those three issues locally (see grant details on p. 2). In launching

Communityworks, recalls Nancy Fishman, executive director o Grand Victoria, “I was

hoping that i we all agreed that we care about the same things, and that our solutions

must be placed-based, and we all worked together, however dierent our strategies might

 be, it would make a much bigger dierence to olks in Illinois than i Grand Victoria just

made its grants and community oundations ocused on donor services.”

Eighteen community oundations took up the challenge (one later dropped out).

The operating support alone was irresistible. But many, especially brand-new oundations

or those with recently hired executive directors, were attracted by the chance to step

up to a new, more proessional level o operations. “Communityworks was the rst big

idea that came our way,” said one executive director. A trustee said: “It came at just the

right time. It gave us direction; it gave us a ocus; it gave us a story.”

But not everyone was so sure. 

“We thought our job was to create permanent endowments or beloved local

nonprots,” not compete with them or resources, said one executive director;

“Communityworks wanted to take us in a dierent direction. That was a

 problem.” Another likened Communityworks to a giant slalom course: “We could

see the nish line, but the slope was enshrouded in og—we had no clear idea

how we would get there.” A ew were downright suspicious. As one executive

director put it: “A oundation rom Chicago says, ‘we’re here to help you?’

Nobody south o I-80 believes anyone rom Chicago is going to help them.”

5 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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From one tool

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to a toolbox

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Beore Communityworks, most Illinois community oundations were very small

operations. Some had never had a ull-time sta person or an oce; others relied on

one or two people to do everything. The operating support rom Communityworks

made a big dierence.

New sta Communityworks required that the oundations have at least one ull-

time proessional sta member. Several oundations hired executive directors, some

or the rst time: Julie Buck at Grundy County, Norm Strasma at Kankakee,

Joedy Hightower or the combined posts o Engham and Mattoon were all hired

 because o Communityworks. McHenry also hired its rst ull-time executive

director. Other oundations (including Evanston, DeKalb, Central Illinois, Great

River Bend, and DuPage) added program ocers or other proessional sta.

By 2008, hal o the Communityworks participants had three or more ull-time sta.

New oces Southern Illinois moved rom an incubator building on the Southern

Illinois University Campus to a storeront oce on DeYoung Street, the main drag

in nearby Marion—a symbolic statement o independence rom its university origins.

Neither Engham nor Mattoon had an oce; now the oundations have oce

space near the downtown areas o each community.

Oak Park - River Forest separated rom the community chest and opened its

own oce in Oak Park’s Lake Street shopping district.

Sangamon County opened oces in a downtown high rise in Illinois’

capital city, Springeld.

Decatur moved out o a basement into oces on the second foor o a recently

renovated, busy downtown community arts center.

With a git rom a ormer trustee, DuPage Community Foundation

 bought its own condo in a local proessional building.

McHenry County let behind its 500-square-oot oce and moved into a

 pleasant space that aces onto Woodstock’s classic town square (which was the

setting or the movie “Groundhog Day”).

The people changed,

and so did the places.

9 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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“Communityworks enabled us to hire sta.

It really increased the presence and the percep-

tion o the oundations in the community.”

Joedy Hightower and Mary McShane, Efngham County

Community Foundation/Mattoon Area Community Foundation

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New capacity When Joy Boru took over the Moline Foundation, it consisted o 

a card table, a chair, a box with a John Deere mug, some pencils, a calculator,

and some le olders,” she recalls. Boru ditched the box and bought a copier,

computers, and accounting sotware. Several others also upgraded their

computers and sotware. Great River Bend bought a color copier and started

 planning new oce space.

Evanston hired a design team and created a bright, strong brand

or its annual report and undraising materials.

All seventeen oundations applied or certication rom the Council on

Foundations as meeting the National Standards or Community Foundations,

and twelve were certied.

But some things didn’t go smoothly.Several oundations struggled through stang problems: too little sta,

too much turnover, not the right sta or the tasks at hand.

11 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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Grantmaking is the most obvious tool at a oundation’s disposal, but not

the only one. In launching Communityworks, Grand Victoria dug deep into

its philanthropic toolbox.

Convening Grand Victoria explicitly set out to create a statewide network o 

 partners and it built the network through shared experiences, including monthly

conerence calls and annual meetings.

Capacity building grants Communityworks oered each community oundation

$280,000 in general operating support over ve years, enabling them to add sta 

and proessionalize their operations as described above.

Technical assistance Grand Victoria invested $1.8 million in providing technical

assistance through its Learning Support Network. The network was staed by eld

liaisons who provided coaching, expertise, and other supports. Conerence calls,

workshops, educational and research materials, access to consultants, and a website

 provided ideas on everything rom the basics o running a oundation to resources on

land use and protection, early childhood, and workorce issues. Field liaisons met

regularly as a team to review progress and plot new directions.

Matching grants To encourage each community oundation to build its own

resources dedicated to the three issues, Grand Victoria oered $50,000 i community

oundations raised $25,000 (in Phase 2 expanded to $200,000 on a 1:1 match).

The work changed, or Grand Victoria

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Community oundations who participated in Communityworks also took

up new and oten unamiliar tools:

Convening Phase 2 required community oundations to meet with “local citizens,

civic leaders, and policymakers” to explore the three issues. For many this was a new

challenge. “All o a sudden here we were holding public meetings on land use,”

said one; “we said to ourselves, what are we doing?” Many were pleasantly surprised

 by the results. “I’d be lying i I didn’t say I was skeptical,” said one executive director,

 but it proved to be very powerul to get people in the same room to talk about issues.”

For some oundations, however, the convenings proved a special challenge; said one:

It’s hard to get people around here to come to community meetings—and I was doing

them in counties where I didn’t know anybody” (she responded by recruiting new

 board members rom those areas). Another executive director ound one meeting

hijacked by advocates o a narrow agenda, while other sessions elicited a deluge

o ideas and commentary.

Partnerships Out o the community meetings the oundations developed partner-

ships with local ocials, nonprot and corporate leaders, and other unders, ormalized

in part through Communityworks advisory committees. They built connections with

groups they had never worked with beore. Both Decatur and Sangamon County have

developed their education initiatives as broad-based partnerships, with support and

leadership rom major partners besides the oundation. DeKalb and Great River Bend

now say that they won’t undertake any new projects without partnerships.

Planning Phase 2 required the oundations to come up with a “community impact

 plan.” Many ound it tough going (“unbelievably laborious,” said one), as they struggled

to make sense o all the inormation they had gathered. But even those who complained

recognized that the planning was essential i they were to move in new, more strategic

directions. For a look at the plans that resulted, see the next section.

...and the community oundations.

13 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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Through their public meetings, the community oundations began learning

about problems and leadership opportunities that they had never known existed,

and nding partners among people they had never met.

The Community Foundation o Central Illinois ound that many groups had

 program plans or the same low-income Peoria community but didn’t know about

each other. The oundation hosted a breakast at the Urban League where people

 began planning collaboration to avoid duplicating resources.

Kankakee, McHenry, and Engham community oundations each connected with

 planning already underway or major local initiatives, and each stepped into a leadership

role. In Kankakee, the community oundation became the driving orce behind creation

o a walking and biking trail along the Kankakee River, which required collaboration

 by twelve government entities involved in dierent sections o the trail. McHenry has

taken a similar role or development o a new acility to host the county air and other

local and regional events. In Engham, the community oundation became the ocal

 point o local eorts to raise a $3 million permanent endowment to support the operation

o a new sports acility.

In Decatur, the oundation brought educators, child care providers and Head Start

representatives together. The group immediately ocused in on kindergarten readiness.

In Springeld, the community meetings identied a challenge that touched on

all three issues: transportation. The city’s buses didn’t reach the major shopping areas

and employment centers just outside the city limits; and they stopped running at

6:30 p.m. The oundation’s rst Communityworks grant provided transportation

subsidies or local residents, and the oundation began exploring ways to recongure

 bus routes and schedules to connect people to jobs and child care.

In addition to the community meetings, the Moline Foundation and the Community

Foundation o the Great River Bend, working with other local oundations and the United

Way, commissioned a survey o Quad Cities residents and leaders supplemented by ocus

groups and additional data. The “Community Vitality Scan” identied community

 priorities on education, the local economy and the environment, as well as other areas.

The two community oundations then divided up the work, with Great River Bend taking

responsibility or early childhood and the Moline Foundation beginning planning on

workorce and land use and protection.

The planning began.

15 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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Pulling together all the input plus inormation and resources supplied by the Learning

Support Network, the community oundations began creating plans and setting goals.

In Peoria, the ideas gradually ocused on making Peoria Manual High School

a resource or the whole community. The community oundation started working with

others to create a rain garden and a training program or local child care providers

on the Manual campus.

Out o the early sessions in Decatur came the idea o a summer pre-kindergarten

 program to enhance the readiness o children who would otherwise start out at a

disadvantage—and an overall plan to make Decatur the “best educated city in Illinois.”

Evanston came to the conclusion that kindergarten readiness and workorce readiness

are grounded in the earliest years. They determined that there were strong preschool

options or local kids, but that the real need was in the birth-to-three stage; so they

 began supporting home visiting or vulnerable amilies with very young children.

Other oundations also ocused on early childhood. The DeKalb, McHenry, and

Quincy community oundations concentrated on improving the quality o child care

 by helping local providers to meet recently adopted state quality rating standards

or in-home child care.

Sangamon County ound that reorganizing Springeld’s transportation system

was beyond its reach. It turned instead to an ambitious, multiagency planning initiative

to create a “continuum o learning” to support lielong learning by local residents.

The oundation’s ability to assess its eectiveness and change course suggests its growing

maturity as an organization.

Somewhat to its surprise, the Moline Foundation ound itsel helping lead local land

use and watershed planning sessions. The Community Foundation o Grundy County simi-

larly ocused on watershed planning, and began working to create a conservation district.

The Engham County Community Foundation decided to tackle workorce rom the

 business development side by raising $150,000 to support a pilot program that utilizes

local entrepreneurs’ expertise in a non-traditional classroom.

“I learned that, i we as a community oundation

go out and convene people, they will come,

especially i we maintain our neutrality. You bring

the issue out, and the solutions come rom there.”

James Sullivan, Community Foundation o Central Illinois

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B ut  t hi ng s  d i d  no t  a l w a  y s  

 p l a  y  o ut  s o  ne a t l  y . 

As  no t e d  a b o v e , s o me  c o mmuni t  y   o und a t i o ns  

s t e  p  p e d  i nt o  l e a d e r s hi  p  o  p  p o r t uni t i e s  t ha t  ma t e r i a l i z e d  

e v e n b e  o r e  t he  y  ha d  a   p l a n. ( S a i d  a n E  f ng ha m t r us t e e , 

S o me t i me s   y o u ha v e  t o  b e  o  p  p o r t uni s t i c  i n t e r ms  o   t he  

i s s ue   y o u us e  t o  g e t   y o ur s e l   k no w n i n t he  c o mmuni t  y .”  )  

O t he r s  s t r ug g l e d  w i t h s t a    t ur no v e r , l o g i s t i c a l  

 p r o b l e ms , a nd  o t he r  c ha l l e ng e s  a nd  t o o k  a  l o ng  t i me  

t o  d e v e l o  p  t he i r   p l a ns . T r ue  s t r a t e g i c  g r a nt ma k i ng  i s  

c ha l l e ng i ng . As  o ne  e x e c ut i v e  d i r e c t o r  s a i d , “ T he  c a ut i o n 

i s  … t o  a s s e mb l e  t he  hug e  l i s t  o   g r e a t  i d e a s  i nt o  a  

 p l a n t ha t  i s   e a s i b l e  a nd  s us t a i na b l e .”  M o v i ng  t o g e t he r  

t o w a r d  i nc r e a s i ng l  y  s t r a t e g i c  a  p  p r o a c he s  i s  a  k e  y  g o a l  

o   C o mmuni t  y w o r k s  P ha s e  3 . 

By the end o phase 2 the community oundations were beginning to invest grant

dollars rom their Communityworks unds—and sometimes also rom other resources—

to carry out the plans they had created. They were starting to use their resources more

strategically. Some carried that approach over into their other grantmaking as well.

Unsolicited applications are practically nonexistent now,” says one executive director;

everybody knows what we’re trying to accomplish.”

“ 

17 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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The $250,000 in endowment money oered by Communityworks required ound-

ations to raise a match, with the total to go into a Communityworks endowment und.

In raising that money, the community oundations or the rst time were creating a

und that they could allocate, not simply according to donor wishes, but ollowing

a broad based, well-researched community plan.

Many had never raised money beore—“we had simply waited around or people

to die,” said one. Several reported that the matching dollars, along with the newly

strategic approach and community plans, made raising unds easier. It enabled them

to approach donors they had not reached beore with a coherent story and reason

or giving. As one put it, “We could say to donors, ‘here’s what we need in this

community; here’s what the community is telling us; we have a great opportunity to

address these needs because we have the possibility o matching your contribution’—

it made the story so easy.”

As they became successul at undraising, they ound new ways to attract

resources. Three community oundations—Decatur, DuPage, and Great River Bend—

ound the matching strategy so successul that they created their own versions o it,

either to raise additional unds or to encourage their grantees to raise unds.

The community oundations were also able to leverage resources rom the partners

they had met through their convening. The Peoria Manual rain garden expanded

through in-kind contributions rom the school district and the park district; and

the community oundation’s contribution to the child care training center was matched

 by other unding sources. Said the executive director, “I learned that, i you have good

 programs, you don’t have to be the only under—others will come in.” Another executive

director, approached by a high-quality early learning center that wanted to locate in

his county, said, “We don’t have the resources, but we know people. We convened an

inormational session and 30 people showed up—all the local private oundations came.”

Other oundations have provided unding that enabled their grantees to apply or ederal

grants. One shared its ndings on workorce issues with a private under, who drew on

the inormation to create a pre-engineering program at the local high school. Another

ound donors willing to contribute $380,000 over and above the Communityworks

match to support its early childhood grantmaking.

The undraising began.

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“The message that ‘We’ve held these meetings,

we’ve done this work, it will result in community

improvement’—that was a new pitch or us.

It worked very well. And the Communityworks

match stimulated a lot o giving or us.”

Lucy Murphy, Community Foundation o Decatur/Macon County

19 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

But some oundations oundthe undraising dicult.Three had not raised the matching unds by the end o Phase 2. Some (including

some who were successul) complained about the structure o the Community-

works match, which specied that, to be matched, gits must be committed to the

Communityworks und as a whole, rather than targeted to one particular issue.

A git rom a under passionate about early childhood but indierent or hostile to

land protection would not count or the match (though it could be part o the

Communityworks endowment). Grand Victoria (and community oundations who

were consulted on the provision) wanted community oundations to attract money

they would have discretion to use in accordance with community plans, instead o 

donor wishes. But or several oundations, that was a hard sell.

The oundations that ound the undraising especially dicult were those that

struggled with the overall approach o Communityworks. Competing with capital

campaigns or beloved local institutions, one executive director lamented that

Communityworks didn’t mean anything to people. We would say, ‘We’ve got three

issues and we’ll put a program together …’ Donors would say, ‘what are you going

to do with the money?’ We said, ‘we don’t know yet.’ That was dicult.” Another said,

I would go to a county 50 miles rom here and say ‘I want you to contribute money

or child care, land use, and workorce. I don’t know what we’re going to do with

it but it will help you olks here.’ Huh?” By contrast, as described above, unders who

 brought a well-worked out plan oten ound donors increasingly willing to listen.

On the other hand, one oundation president—who made the match by accepting

one large git—said the whole experience convinced her that “we aren’t undraisers.”

We got to where we are by saying to donors, ‘what do you want to do and how can we

help?’ That’s very dierent rom ‘we’ve got an idea, give us money or it.’”

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to strategic

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The resources grew.

04 05 06 07 08

Median asset size or 17

Communityworks oundations

I  nMi  l  l  i   o

n s

Across the board, assets have grown.

Median number o unds managed by 17

Communityworks oundations

Foundations are managing more unds.

  $  1 .7  0 7 

  $   3 . 3 4  9 

  $  4 . 8  0  0 

  $   5 . 9  0  0 

  $  7 . 3 4  3 

1  9 

 3  0 

4  3 

 5  9 

 6  9 

04 05 06 07 08

Median number o gits raised by 17

Communityworks oundations

Median amount o gits raised by 17

Communityworks oundations

2008 fgures reported July 31, 2008.

I  n t  h  o u s an d  s

Fundraising is bringing in more gits … and more money.

4 2 

2  0  0 

 3  8 7 

4 4  6 

 3  9  3 

04 05 06 07 08

  $  

2  8  6 

  $  1 

  ,4  5  8 

  $  1   ,1  0 2 

  $  1   , 0 2 2 

  $  4 1  8 

04 05 06 07 08

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With expanded roles, operating

 budgets increase

… and so does sta.

Median operating budget or 17

Communityworks oundations

Median ull-time sta o 17 community 

oundations; many also added part-time sta.

I  nT h  o u s an

 d  s

  $  1 4 4 

  $  1  6  5 

  $  1  6  0 

  $  1  8  8 

  $  2 4  0 

 3 

2 2 

04 05 06 07 08 04 05 06 07 08

“I people buy into our vision—which we

created through their input—then we’re going

to be ne, because that will lead to a nancial

commitment by olks who share our vision.”

Jerry Smith, DeKalb County Community Foundation

23 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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Communityworks has stimulated partnerships as community oundations came

together to achieve strategic goals. Some collaborations were a direct result o the

Communityworks process: Moline and Great River Bend collaborated on their

community scan, then divided up the work. Mattoon and Engham, which joined

orces to apply or the Communityworks grant, have now merged to become the South-

eastern Illinois Community Foundation and are reaching out to other nearby counties.

Other partnerships evolved out o the work itsel. McHenry and DeKalb have collaborated

on early childhood work. Kankakee has reached out to nearby Grundy County to join

its riverront trail. Three oundations (Moline, Great River Bend, and Southern Illinois)

have joined a partnership with other unders working in communities along the

Mississippi River.

Many oundations especially value these peer collaborations. Using the ideas rom

her colleagues, said one executive director, “We as a small new oundation could do things

right rom the beginning, rather than having to go back and x things we’d done wrong.”

Another mentioned credibility: “I can speak about an issue, and I’m refecting the

experience o my colleagues across the state, it’s not just me talking.” Several cited the

Alliance o Illinois Community Foundations as a major byproduct o Communityworks.

This network evolved rom the 17 Communityworks oundations and now includes

nearly ty members rom around the state.

Building partnerships with community oundations was o course the original

idea that motivated Grand Victoria to launch Communityworks. To the extent that

community oundations have become partners to each other, that purpose was achieved.

Said one trustee, “These multiple county collaborations would probably have taken

 place at some point, but Communityworks really accelerated the whole process.”

Still, the partnerships have

not been without strainsThe ormal Communityworks collaborations have each been challenging, or

dierent reasons that are too complex to go into here. Meanwhile, it’s not clear thatthe community oundations truly see Grand Victoria as a partner. Though many had

 praise or Grand Victoria’s vision and commitment to Communityworks, ew cited

Grand Victoria as a partner. Some did, however; said one executive director: “They have

the ambition to be a statewide under; we have the ambition to grow locally. I see them

as a trusted partner.”

The collaborations grew.

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“I can stand up at a meeting and speak

about an issue, and I’m refecting the experience

o my colleagues across the state—it’s not just

me talking.” Kate Halma, McHenry County

Community Foundation

25 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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As Phase 2 came to an end in spring 2008, most community oundations had

 just begun making their rst Communityworks grants. Still, there are some real-

world results already underway. Among the highlights:

Early Childhood Forty Evanston amilies are getting home visiting services to

give newborns a strong start in lie, and the community oundation is unding an

evaluation o home visiting to assess results and improve quality.

In Decatur, the community oundation has provided unding to screen kids

or kindergarten readiness and, working with the park district and the library, has

set up a pre-kindergarten program that last year served 176 children. A 2007

evaluation showed hal the kids improving their scores on key benchmarks.

Mentors rom West Central Child Care Connection are visiting 23 home child care

 providers in Quincy to ocus on meeting state quality standards. A community

oundation grant to Positive Parenting DuPage provides proessional development

or local child care providers. The DeKalb County and McHenry County community

oundations are collaborating to help local child care providers meet state quality

standards. Great River Bend has unded a community-wide assessment o child care

to guide uture work, and is supporting quality training or local child care centers.

A training center or child care providers is getting underway at Manual High

School in Peoria, with community oundation unding. Oak Park-River Forest is also

unding training or child care sta and investing in the Parents as Teachers program.

The Community Foundation o Grundy County brings together providers and other

 birth to ve” proessionals to share ideas, and also unds beore and ater school child

care and programs or at-risk amilies.

The Community Foundation o the Kankakee River Valley is investing in parent

education, mental health services or young children, and helping child care

 providers meet state quality standards.

The landscape changed.

27 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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Land Use and Protection Groundbreaking or the Riverront Trail along the

Kankakee River is scheduled or spring 2009.

With support rom Community Foundation o Central Illinois, Manual High

School in Peoria launched its rain garden in June 2008.

The DuPage Community Foundation has unded creation o a speakers

 bureau to raise the importance o aordable housing in its very afuent county,

and has made a grant to DuPage United to work on this issue.

The Moline Foundation has provided grants or a land use plan and a

watershed plan or Rock Island County.

The Community Foundation o Grundy County, with help rom nearby

Kankakee, convened partners to launch the Illinois Headwaters Resource

and Development Council.

Workorce The Mattoon and Engham oundations have provided unding to

establish a support center or startup businesses.

The Community Foundation o East Central Illinois, in collaboration with local

unions, unds a vocational summer program or high school students to get

them thinking about highly skilled union jobs post-graduation.

The Moline Foundation unded creation o a website and related curriculum to

enable local high school students to explore a broad variety o careers and identiy

the training options to prepare or them.

And they’re just getting started.Foundations will continue to work on these issues, and they hope to increase

their impact by collaborating in “action hubs” on each issue in Phase 3 o 

Communityworks.

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“We envision communities where people

 prosper, nature thrives, and our children

enjoy lives lled with unlimited

 possibilities.” Jim Baum, board president,

Community Foundation o Grundy County

29 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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The spirit changed.

“The greatest thing is learning, hanging out

with peers on a very intimate basis. Plus they

gave us a structure or tackling issues.”Julie Buck, Community Foundation o Grundy County

“Communityworks came at just the right time

or our oundation to step rom being a recipient

waiting around or people to die, to actively

engaging our community. … We’re getting to

the place where people call us—donors and non-

 prots—to see i we can assist them. That’s

exactly the place we want to be.”

Joan Dixon, Community Foundation o East Central Illinois

“Through Communityworks we’ve held town

meetings, we’ve adopted national standards, we’ve

 proven that we’re here, we’re solid, the people

on the board have credibility. We’re creating a

 possibility where there wasn’t any beore.”

Maggie Flanagan, Southern Illinois Community Foundation

“It’s been very challenging—sometimes

exhilarating, sometimes exhausting. But

i we hadn’t done it, I don’t think we’d be

where we are today.” Jill Arnold Blickhan,

Community Foundation o the Quincy Area

“We became a whole dierent grantmaker,

convener, partner—a whole dierent

organization than we were beore.”

Dave McGowan, DuPage Community Foundation

“I never thought that such substantial change

would result rom the simple idea o grant-

making paired with leadership convening.”

Joy Boru, The Moline Foundation

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“We have huge energy, we have our own alli-

ance, we’ve had a legislative day in Springeld,

we’re building the power o philanthropy.”

John Stremsterer, Sangamon County Community Foundation

“In its beginning history the oundation saw

itsel more as an asset manager, a way or people

to give donations. Now we’re becoming community

leaders, ocused on partnering with the commu-

nity to nd solutions and make an impact by

leveraging local resources.” Sophia Lloyd, Oak Park-

River Forest Community Foundation

“Communityworks allowed us to be

more than just the money, the assets, a

responsive grantmaker. Instead we’ve

 been able to move philosophically to

 become a more strategic grantmaker,

a leader in the community.” Dan Templin,

DeKalb County Community Foundation

“Communityworks gave us ocus,

direction, and the nancial backing

to go with it.” Pam Debono, board chair,

Community Foundation o Kankakee River Valley

“You don’t have to be a big oundation to

make a dierence. It’s what you can do;it’s the kind o initiative you can take;

it’s how you bring people together: It’s

always more than the money.” 

Sara Schastok, Evanston Community Foundation

“Through Communityworks we realized

you can make a dierence in the community i 

you organize to do that. That’s a huge change.”

Susan Skora, Community Foundation o Great River Bend

31 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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Several elements proved critical to success in the rst ve years o Communityworks:

Capacity Grand Victoria set minimum requirements (at least one ull-time proessional

staer plus $200,000 in permanent assets) and sought to build community

oundation capacity by oering general operating support and creating the Learning

Support Network. Community oundations praise these supports or enabling them

to take their operations to the next level. Some are now investing in capacity building

or their grantees. Grand Victoria also invested in its own capacity, creating a team

including a director and eld liaisons who meet regularly and, as Nancy Fishman

says, “work well as a team and are ready to provide in a very fuid way the kind

o support that’s needed.”

Leadership The oundations that achieved the greatest transormations through

Communityworks were those where the executive director ran with the idea and

the board was supportive. Turnover at the executive director level proved a serious

setback. At some oundations board members who disagreed with the direction

let and new members, oten more open to Communityworks, replaced them.

Keeping board members engaged and keeping continuity among board members

with knowledge o the initiative was important. Some executive directors cite lack

o board support as an obstacle to progress on Communityworks. Grand Victoria

 provided learning opportunities or board members, which were generally well

received; but the learning was not always shared beyond the original participants.

Foundations also had a Communityworks advisory committee, which included

non-board members. Giving the advisory committee appropriate responsibilities

while still respecting the board’s prerogatives and keeping it engaged proved an

important balancing act or many oundations.

The thinking

changed again.

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Flexibility Communityworks has been a “learn as you go” operation or both

community oundations and Grand Victoria. Through its eld liaisons and regular

meetings, Grand Victoria listened to the community oundations and responded to their

concerns (or example, the Phase 1 match requirement was lowered at the RFP stage rom

$50,000 to $25,000 when community oundations said the target was too high). Said one

executive director, “Grand Victoria said, here are the parameters, but that doesn’t mean

that your impact plan, or your implementation plan, or your grants need to be cookie-

cutter. Just because something worked in New York doesn’t mean it will work in Golden,

Illinois.” Some drew a lesson or their own work: “I your oundation leadership can be

as fexible as your nancial instruments,” said one executive director, “you can go ar,

 because you’ll be more open to possibilities.” Others work to achieve “continuous learning”

and build learning communities among local nonprots and civic leaders. On the other

hand, some oundations elt Grand Victoria could have been more fexible on some

structural issues, e.g., matching contributions to the Communityworks endowment.

Communication Grand Victoria worked to keep lines o communication open, and

took trouble to clariy its ideas and intentions. The eld liaisons served as a useul link,

community oundations reported. Still, oundations were not always sure their ideas

and concerns were being heard. Going orward, community oundations recognize that

eective communications will be critical to keep their boards engaged, build community

leadership, reach new partners and new donors, and expand eectiveness. Especially

important will be telling their stories and demonstrating local impact. Yet, with small

stas and expanding responsibilities, many struggle to devote time to communications.

Partnerships Leadership capital can be greater than nancial capital. Convening

community members was an invaluable step toward achieving greater visibility and

impact, but the meetings had to have a clear purpose and lead to signicant results.

Convenings that raised expectations but led nowhere could be counterproductive.

Also important was building community partnerships. Foundations worked hard at

learning to collaborate, building trust, and recognizing when to take the lead and

when to step back.

33 Grand Victoria Foundation | Communityworks

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Resources Community oundations said they had learned to recognize the power

o endowments in providing fexibility and building or the uture. Several ound that

 building a strategic plan based on community input gave them “a story” to bring to

donors they had never reached beore; the matching unds reinorced that appeal.

On the other hand, some oundations never were able to put the pieces together to

create a coherent story; while others chose instead the more traditional path o 

identiying and implementing the wishes o major donors.

Priorities The transition to more ocused and more strategic grantmaking

includes saying no to some worthy projects. Achieving genuine impact also requires

taking a hard look at local organizations that may be well-meaning but ineective—

a painul task, in small communities, that must be detly managed. Also important

is managing donor expectations, and being careul about what initiatives a

oundation can reasonably undertake.

Risk-taking Grand Victoria took a risk by deciding not to go it alone but instead to

work with previously untested partners. Many community oundations also saw

Communityworks as risky. Some worried that no one would show up at their meetings,

or that they would raise expectations they could not ulll. Others were not sure the new

direction was the right one. Still, they all jumped in, and most, in the end, were glad

they had. Even those who eventually chose another course said they had gained important

 benets; and many ound Communityworks transormative. 

Patience Adopting a genuinely strategic approach is long-term, dicult work. Illinois

community oundations have made a start toward strategic grantmaking but they have

a long way to go, as many themselves acknowledge. Moreover, the kinds o changes they

hope to make in their communities take time to achieve. One board member, speaking

about early childhood, worried that people would be “looking or instant change, instant

improvement; but i you work with newborns today, you’re not going to see results or a

long time.” “Things don’t happen overnight, you’re not going to solve all the problems,”

said one executive director. “But you can become a change agent in your community.”

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Communityworks. The Change Continues.

Grand Victoria used the lessons rom the rst

ve years to shape Communityworks going or-

ward. Recognizing that oundations need capacity

to carry out new plans and new roles, Phase 3

 provides operating and endowment support and

also continues the Learning Support Network.

To encourage collaboration, Phase 3 launches

action hubs” in which partners, including Grand

Victoria, can collaborate on grantmaking strategies

and seek regional or statewide solutions. Finally,

to encourage truly strategic work among those

oundations that have made the most progress in

Phase 2, Grand Victoria provides support to build

the Communityworks endowment as a strong,

independent source o unds or the uture.

And that’s just the beginning.

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Package One

Operating grants: Year 1 up to $50,000; year 2 up

to $40,000; year 3 up to $30,000.

Optional matching git o $100,000 per year or

administrative endowments.

Continuing participation in Learning Support

Network and Action Hubs.

Package Two

Operating grants: Year 1 up to $50,000; year 2 up

to $40,000; year 3 up to $30,000.

A $1 million grant or permanent administrative

endowment and a $1 million grant to the permanent

Communityworks endowment.

Optional matching grants to build operating and/

or Communityworks endowments: 1:1 match up to $2

million over three years, matching gits rom new

donors, Communityworks donors, and lapsed donors.

Continuing participation in Learning Support

Network and Action Hubs.

Action Hubs Fund

$500,000 und to support collaborative eorts

designed to have a broader impact.

Communityworks Phase III 

September 2008–October 2011

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“Every oundation including Grand Victoria is dierent now than when we

started. We’re more active than passive. We all have a more outward viewo our roles in areas we’re working in; instead o looking inward, at our

organizations, our to-do lists, we look outward, to see where can we connect

others, or connect to others. Every participant was transormed, even i 

Communityworks was not ultimately the model they adopted, they’re still

very dierent philanthropicorganizations than when we started.”

Nancy Fishman, Grand Victoria Foundation

   T   h   i  s  r  e  p  o  r   t   i  s  p  r   i  n   t  e   d  o  n  r  e  c

  y  c   l  e   d  p  a  p  e  r  w   i   t   h  s  o  y   b  a  s  e   d   i  n   k  s .

      D    e    s      i    g    n   K  y  m    A

   b  r  a  m  s

   D  e  s   i  g  n ,

      P    r      i    n     t      i    n    g

   A  c   t   i  v  e   G  r  a  p   h   i  c  s Acknowledgements 

No summary o Communityworks would be complete without acknowledging

the Communityworks team: Sheila Leahy, Julia Parzen, Cindy Blorstad, and

Janet Rael. Together they ormed the all-important heart o this undertaking.

Their thoughtulness, their knowledge, their generosity, and their erce and

tireless commitment to the success o the community oundations and o 

Communityworks have been truly incredible. I am deeply grateul to each o them.

Many thanks to our evaluators, Rob Paral and Karen Callam, who provided that

important objective eye, and to writer Mary O’Connell who traveled long distances

to visit community oundations all over Illinois in order to tell their story.

 

Nancy Fishman

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Grand Victoria Foundation

230 W. Monroe Street, Suite 2530

Chicago, Illinois 60606

312 609-0200

grandvictoriadn.org