Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties

Grantmaking - Community revitalization, educational attainment, positive youth development the Community Foundation strives to make connections by inspiring and facilitating philanthropy to address our Community's most pressing needs, with the intention of creating a better quality of life for all residents. We invest in our nonprofit partners through confidence in their expertise and excellence of service. In june of 2022, the Community Foundation's board of directors approved a new five year strategic plan that commenced on july 1, 2022. The five-year plan included a change to the Community Foundation's core areas of focus. The new focus areas are economic opportunity, education and youth, and thriving Community. A programmatic grant of $50,000 was awarded to the cancer alliance of help & hope. The grant was used to ease the burden of cancer patients by providing assistance in obtaining expedited medical care, ensuring racial equity in treatment for clients, helping them understand their diagnosis and what options are available, and providing direct financial assistance when needed. A general operating grant for $40,000 was awarded to support the emanual jackson sr project. Ejs builds and empowers tomorrow's leaders. The organization promotes success in teens' day-to-day and school lives and encourages them to dream big as they plan for their futures. A capacity building grant of $52,000 was awarded to homesafe. The grant was used to support staff development to ensure team members are well versed in the systems of care for at-risk youth. Another strong component of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties is to connect the interest of donors to causes that they are passionate about. One unique way this wish is fulfilled is through our field of interest funds. The field of interest funds ensures that the donor's intent addresses their philanthropic interest; the integrity of the donor fund never shifts from its original intent; and the funds assist nonprofits in achieving positive Community impact. In 2023, our field of interest funds also address pressing Community needs through our three core focus areas, economic opportunity, education and youth, and thrivng Community. We partnered with organizations that provided job training opportunities to individuals with developmental disabilities; nonprofits that increased access to food; programs that provided environmental education to youth; organizations that provided mentorships for women-owned businesses; arts & culture programs that develop youth music and dance skills; and programs that prevented homelessness by stabilizing individuals and families in their homes and providing case management. Through our fy23 competitive grant process, with the support of unrestricted and field of interest funds, 116 grants were awared for $4,769,474 to nonprofits in the Palm Beach county and Martin county geographical region.an important component of the Community Foundation's strategic plan is to support our Community partners serving our region through other means than grant funding. One way we were able to do this was by helping build our nonprofit capacity. By strengthening our nonprofit systems and structures, they are able to work more efficiently and effectively, resulting in increased Community impact. Through a collaborative partnership with seven other Community funders, we were able to support 63 nonprofit partners complete projects like - social media setups, fundraising assessments, website visual designs, print material designs, employehandbooks, data collection plans, and more. As a result of the $150,000 initial investment, we were able to save our nonprofit participants over $1,000,000.

Other services:donor-advised funds:with over 50 years' experience, the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties helps its donors achieve their philanthropic vision through financial stewardship and Community leadership. Together we address our communities' most pressing needs, while creating a better quality of life for all residents. This fiscal year, donor advised and designated funds distributed $9,159,590 each grant is fully reviewed by staff at the Foundation and adheres to best practices for grantmaking and ensures legal and financial compliance. The Community Foundation administers charitable giving vehicles to facilitate the philanthropic intent of individuals and groups via donor advised and designated fund types. Administration consists of processing and disbursing grants to nonprofit entities according to the terms of each individual fund. The Community Foundation provides administrative services to over 280 daf and designated funds. We work with our fundholders to make grants to the charities they love, and we introduce them to charities that align with their giving wishes. Our process of due diligence includes confirmation of ein/501 (c) (3) status through guidestar charity check and irs.gov website to ensure the validity of the organization. A benefit of our donor advised fund program is through our online portal, donorcentral, which makes fund information easily available in real time and allows the fundholder independent grantmaking and accessibility. Through our donor-centric services, we can leverage grantmaking dollars to important programs and to immediate critical needs. One of the Community Foundation's core components is to help nonprofits build a sustainable source of income. We help local nonprofits build their sustainability so that their programs and services can continue for years. We are committed to strengthening and serving our nonprofit Community. As part of that commitment, we manage assets and reserves for nonprofit organizations. We currently have 83 nonprofit funds representing $9.4m.

Scholarship program:this year approximately 676 students completed an application for the Community Foundation's scholarship program. With the assistance of dedicated volunteers and entrusted donors' resources, for the 2023-2024 academic year, we awarded $1,162,435 in scholarships to 116 deserving students in our Community. These students received awards ranging from $750 to $20,000 to use toward their college of choice. Recipients are attending all major Florida universities, stanford university, university of Virginia, clemson university, and princeton university, just to name a few.the scholarship program is one of the largest distributors of scholarship funds in the Community. It creates opportunities that afford high school seniors from Palm Beach and Martin Counties to fulfill their goals of obtaining a degree or high credential certification that will prepare them for the workforce. We support a wide range of students based on the criteria of over 122 scholarship funds. Scholarship funds are often established to honor or memorialize a loved one. Each year fund holders are informed of the recipients and receive thank you letters from the students, allowing the fundholder to be part of the students' college journey. Since 1983, over $16 million in scholarships have been awarded to over 3,000 students.