Incourage Community Foundation

Strategic philanthropy: Incourage promotes collective and strategic philanthropy principally in the south wood county area in central Wisconsin. This rural area includes ten municipalities located in parts of wood and adams counties, with a combined population of about 45,000. In 2022, 210 grants were approved (excluding agency grants subject to fas 136) benefiting 86 tax-exempt organizations. Also in 2022, 176 scholarships were awarded for continued education, totaling $183,750 and benefiting 112 recipients. Since 2017, most of Incourage's scholarship awards, rather than being administered and paid internally by Incourage, are instead administered through international scholarship and tuition services (ists), a third-party scholarship administrator. As a result, of the 2022 scholarships, $180,250 is reflected as a grant to international scholarship and tuition services on schedule i.in addition to many funds designated toward specified nonprofit organizations, some examples of Community philanthropic activities that benefit from Incourage funds designated toward the activity are: an adult drug treatment court, a veteran's memorial, a Community choir, a city band, a grotto, free zoo programs, a handicap accessible playground, and various Community capital campaigns (i.e. A short track racing memorial). Incourage "what if and "bridge" grants provide support from unrestricted funds. Some examples of Community initiated philanthropic ideas and activities supported in 2022 are: adding safety equipment at a local boxing club, upgrading lighting and supporting "a window between worlds" art workshop facilitator training at a domestic abuse shelter, purchasing materials for a quilting club to make quilts of valor for local veterans, covering printing costs for the 2022 help guide for swc, supporting national youth leadership training scholarships, adding safety equipment at a local habitat for humanity, helping equip an area emergency communications trailer, funding a free kidz zone at a free Community music festival, helping fund "science of magic" outreach workshops for area schools, and a matching grant for a new local transitional housing location. Incourage's grantmaking strategies are aligned with the mission and values driven programs also noted in part iii lines 1, 4b and 4c.the connectedness and integration of a variety of grants, programs and initiatives allows for a "Community specific" framework through which collective resources can achieve greater impact in the form of systems change and Community involvement.

Community engagement and leadership: Incourage is known nationally for encouraging, organizing, developing, and leading programs and Community initiatives that leverage resources, build self-confidence and a sense of agency among residents, and aim to rebuild and diversify our local economy. Incourage supports building social capital and positive Community change by promoting resident engagement, adaptive leadership skills, relationship building, collaboration, convening, advocacy, proactive and unbiased research, capacity building, a shared learning environment, and the effective exchange of relevant information in the process. It has a history of joining with local, regional, state and national funders and partners, in both the public and private sectors, who are committed to prudent and transparent efforts to take existing and emerging models further (see incouragecforgleadnationalpartners for more).as an example, to promote Community prosperity built on valuing workers, supporting local employers, and investing in economic growth, between 2008 and 2016 Incourage, as one of the first rural organizations nationwide chosen by the national fund for workforce solutions (nfws), led a project site through its implementation partner jobs for the future, Inc. The local nfws initiative, workforce central, pursued a dual-customer, sector-based approach for advancing workers into jobs with family sustaining wages. Enhancing the integration of social services and mobilization of Community organizations was a core element of this philanthropic-led strategy. Community collaboration efforts happened between groups that may not have traditionally worked closely together to solve workforce issues. Since 2016, Incourage worked with Community partners and transitioned these programs to permanent homes, including mid state technical college and various local manufacturers. (see incouragecforgleadworkforcecentral2 for more).as another example, starting in 2008, Incourage began participating in the john s. and james l. knight Foundation's Community information challenge, focusing on user-centered processes to create a more informed, engaged, and connected Community. In 2012 and again in 2017/2018, Incourage surveyed approximately 4,000 residents to better understand their current hopes and concerns and how their goals and perspectives had changed. The conversations were also informed by research into local data to produce vital signs type reports and then to host critical Community conversations for informing strategy and action with timely, accurate and relevant data (see incouragecf.org/learn/vital-signs, for more). The main priorities identified by the Community in 2017/2018 were similar to 2012 and included: good quality jobs are accessible to all, quality education for children and adults, attracting and retaining young adults and families, support for local entrepreneurs and business owners, and having a highly trained and competitive workforce. In 2018 the survey results were discussed with more than 30 Community partners and with the broader Community at a public forum, and the results are also located on Incourage's website. These priorities continue to inform Incourage's strategy and Incourage is committed to helping the Community coordinate efforts focused on Community priorities and a shared vision for the future. (see incouragecforgleadcommunityinform... and /community-survey-2017 for more).some additional programs led or inspired by Incourage include adaptive leadership programs, teen leadership programs, educational workshops and training opportunities (organizational, leadership and program development; collaboration and Community engagement; evaluation effectiveness, etc. ), public speakers, promoting civility, promoting civic engagement, etc.a civility project of Incourage, speak your peace, experienced a resurgence in requests for presentations starting in 2021. Incourage originally adopted the nine tools of civility at the center of the initiative in 2008, from a program at the duluth-superior area Community Foundation. This resident-led campaign seeks to improve communication by reminding ourselves of the basic principles of respect. It is not a campaign to end disagreements. Practicing civility is how you get good, and how a Community gets great. The nine tools include: 1-pay attention, 2-listen, 3-be inclusive, 4-don't gossip, 5-show respect, 6-seek common ground, 7-repair damaged relationships, 8-use constructive language, and 9-take responsibility. Incourage is working on ways to have more presentation opportunities available for practicing having difficult conversations with civility, kindness, and respect (see incouragecforgleadadaptiveleaders... & speak-your-peace or speakyourpeaceswc.org for more).incourage is committed to learn, reflect, and act on what it means to be an authentically user-centered, values-led, place-based philanthropic organization that recognizes that tangible changes within the Community culture and its supporting systems take persistence, patience, and time; because it believes that when it knows better, it can do better.

Alignment of Community capitals: recognizing that grants alone cannot support the needs of an innovative, emerging economy, Incourage has committed to align and leverage all of its capitals, including moral, human, social, intellectual, reputational, natural, and financial, to advance its mission. Incourage operates with a strategy that embraces intentional further development and deployment of values-aligned, place-based investments of its financial assets, sometimes referred to as mission, impact, or Community investing. Current mission aligned investments include insured deposits in local banks and credit unions, and fixed income investments in regional high-performing Community development financial institutions (cdfi's) that provide financing to regional businesses, health and human services organizations, and affordable housing. Starting in 2017, Incourage developed and launched a passive equity index fund called the Wisconsin shared stewardship equities fund ("wssef"). It includes a customized portfolio of publicly traded companies that tilts toward companies that are based in, or employ people in Wisconsin. In addition, the wssef allows for proxy voting and shareholder dialogue to encourage responsible practices and business growth in Wisconsin. Starting in 2018, Incourage, along with five other foundations, founded the Wisconsin impact investing collaborative, an effort to help a wide variety of investors learn about and join with others in investing in inclusive, vibrant, and environmentally sustainable communities throughout Wisconsin's urban, rural and tribal areas. Learn more about the collaborative at www.wi3c.org.tribune building project - an economic and Community hub for southern wood county and central Wisconsin: Incourage's commitment to place-based investing and to user-centered decision making for southern wood county's future is symbolized by the continuing re-development of the former daily tribune newspaper and wfhr radio building, which Incourage purchased through its supporting organization, Community property, Inc., in december of 2012. From the beginning, the tribune building (the "tribune"), a historic local mid-century property located on the banks of the Wisconsin river in downtown Wisconsin rapids, Wisconsin, has been about much more than redeveloping a building. It is a demonstration of a user-centered process toward realizing Incourage's vision of partnering with residents, businesses, and civic leaders in rural central Wisconsin to co-create an inclusive, adaptive, and sustainable Community that works well for all people. The redeveloped facility will be an economic and Community hub to serve as a laboratory for innovation for southern wood county and central Wisconsin with a particular focus on the needs of rural communities. It will serve as: a hub for entrepreneurial and small business activity, a focal point of regional collaboration and innovation among major institutional drivers of economic change, and a dynamic Community place for work, play, and commerce. Incourage has engaged over 2,000 residents in the planning and decision-making process so far. The tribune has been designed to reflect resident priorities and capitalize on Community and regional assets. As a recap of the journey so far, phase one in 2013 and 2014 consisted of four public meetings where everyone in the Community was invited to share their ideas for the future use of the space, including encouraging residents to shift their thinking from "me" to "we". Phase two in 2014, consisted of seven public meetings whereby the Community was invited to participate in activities related to the design and sustainability of the facility. Phase three in 2015 and 2016, consisted of ten public meetings in which participants focused on deepening relationships, further defining programming within the facility, and developing resident-led fundraising opportunities to help realize the building. In 2017 and 2018 Community members explored how similar projects in other regions developed, and fundraising efforts at the state and national level expanded. In 2019, the state of Wisconsin department of administration announced a $3 million matching grant opportunity for the tribune's future reconstruction, and Incourage and the university of wisconsin-stevens point announced a collaboration to provide expertise for sustainable economic change in central Wisconsin. During 2020 through 2022 collaborations with key stakeholders in regional economic transformation and growth continued despite the challenges presented by covid interruptions to business as usual. A feasibility study initiated in late 2022 indicates promising opportunities to be pursued in 2023 and beyond toward realizing the full potential of this important Community asset. To date, over 2,000 residents have participated in this multi-year planning process, including working together to prioritize end-use ideas that will celebrate local assets, connect residents, and act as a catalyst for future downtown development. At its core, the tribune will be a true Community social enterprise focused on cultivating entrepreneurs and growing a sustainable local economy. (see incouragecforgleadtribunebuilding for more). "beloved economies - transforming how we work": in the fall of 2018, building upon the resident-led design process for the tribune, Incourage convened the sustainable communities working group, a diverse circle of 22 residents from our region. In 2018 and 2019 this group engaged residents from across our Community to co-create a "blueprint" for the sustainable Community that our region can become. Incourage collaborated with joanna cea and jess rimington to help design a process of cutting-edge co-creation. Their work and research as visiting scholars at stanford university's global projects center is represented in the stanford social innovation review article, "creating breakout innovation", which focused on collaborative processes for Community transformation. Incourage facilitated a process that placed residents in the driver's seat to identify a set of practices to realize our Community's vision of a sustainable future. At joanna and jess's request, in 2020 and 2021 Incourage joined a co-learning team they assembled to continue researching and writing "beloved economies - transforming how we work", which offers a compelling vision of a world in which the relationship between work, the environment and human flourishing is one of harmony rather than friction and inequity. This paperback book, released in august of 2022, has been co-creatively shaped by more than 100 people, including several Incourage staff and volunteers, each with a commitment to, and strong practice of, changing how we work to embrace power-sharing ways that depart from business as usual. The book offers seven specific practices as a springboard for changing how we work and several examples of Incourage's work are included in support of showing that it's not only what we do, but how we do it that can be powerful levers to move us into economies that all of us can love. Realizing the power of our potential is at the heart of what inspires Incourage to keep pushing the envelope of what is possible in our region, and to continue to explore what our role should be as a Community Foundation operating by and for the people.