Founded in 2001 by some visionary local leaders, the Pickaway County Community Foundation is a vehicle through which individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations can easily make charitable donations, current and deferred, to benefit Pickaway County. The Foundation is a public charity governed by a volunteer board of 10-12 members.
The Foundation operates as permanent collection of funds to support charitable causes and organizations in Pickaway County. The funds were created by the vision and commitment of the community with the objective of providing an even brighter future for the members of the Pickaway County community. Under its umbrella of funds, the Foundation makes unrestricted grants to improve the quality of life in Pickaway County.
The Foundation does not support one charitable cause. Instead our mission is to enhance all of Pickaway County by encouraging and supporting philanthropy. Through its unique mission, the Foundation allows donors to support a wide range of charitable causes and organizations.
The good news is that since 2001, community support has been strong, supporters have contributed generously, many grants have been made and the funds have been invested well. As of September 2014, the Community Foundation holds funds valued at over eight million dollars. That balance is after the investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars into our community via grants.
The more challenging part of the equation is that almost all of the funds are restricted by the donor for the purposes designated in the establishment of the funds. The reality is that even though we have over $8 million in total assets, we have very little discretionary money to provide grant dollars for requests outside the designated fund purposes.
In January 2014, the Foundation hosted a group of community leaders to address the question of the real needs and opportunities in Pickaway County. The group of 32 represented all facets of the community – education, health care, social services, business, agriculture, banking, legal and government. The participation was encouraging and the results were exciting and overwhelming at the same time. Exciting about the consensus of the group and overwhelming at the scope of needs/opportunities.
Now the ask… we have embarked on a campaign to raise operational funds for the Foundation – to hire a part time Executive Director and provide the ability to issue more discretionary grants into Pickaway County – by building a donor base to support the ongoing work of growing philanthropy in and for Pickaway County. Our vision is to bring on an Executive Director who can work WITH local charitable organizations to enhance the quality of life for current and future Pickaway County residents.
We are asking for a three year pledge at the following annual commitment level:
CHAMPION $1000 per year
INVESTOR $500 per year
PATRON $250 per year
Thank you for considering an investment to address the needs and opportunities of Pickaway County!