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Yesterday, I received a phone call from a prospective donor, who was referred to The Community Foundation by a local estate planning attorney. For confidentiality purposes, I will arbitrarily give this person the name, Jeff. Everything else about this story is true.

Jeff had an income event in 2010. He is a successful entrepreneur, and he and his wife are raising three young children. One of Jeff’s values is to give back, and this income event provides an opportunity for him to begin a charitable fund through which he and his family can make grants over time to support nonprofit causes they believe will benefit our community.

The conversation proceeded logically for almost an hour. We covered the advantages of a donor advised fund over a private foundation, the ease of online access for recommending grants and the long term value of the foundation’s investment partnership with the University of Richmond. We talked about opportunities for the children to join us on site visits and (when they get older) to learn principles of grantmaking with other kids through participating in the Youth Philanthropy Project. I made the point that this is one of many values The Community Foundation is able to provide to the community—not just to the donor—because of the general support received from every donor fund (comparable to what commercially provided funds call a fee).

Then, Jeff had a brainstorm. “I think it’s a great service that The Community Foundation does due diligence every time I recommend a grant. But, what if there were a website where I could explore charities I might want to support? What if that due diligence were made available for everyone?”

I replied, “Jeff, I can’t believe you asked this question. Your website is being launched next week. It is called GiveRichmond, and you will be able to go online and learn about every nonprofit in our region. You will find more than just the basic information. Yes, you get to see the financials consistently presented and reviewed by our staff. Yes, you will see who is on the board and how effective their programs are. But, you will also have the ability to give online, to see what volunteer opportunities are available and to help when matching gift opportunities are offered.

“Even more, you will be able to order gift cards through a pilot project! You just go online and order gift cards in amounts of $25 and up, and give them to your colleagues, family or others to whom you normally offer holiday gifts. The recipients will go online with a unique card number, where they can give the value of the card to any nonprofit participating on the GiveRichmond website.”

Well, I thought Jeff would jump through the phone! We concluded our conversation with a request for a draft fund letter, which I emailed promptly.

There are a lot of Jeffs out there. People today—particularly young people—live in a connected world. They expect to be able to get answers online when they need it. GiveRichmond provides them with a seamless and continuous way to give, volunteer, learn and get involved.

The week of October 10-16 marks GiveRichmond Week, when you can participate in a number of interactive events. A full schedule of events is available at www.tcfrichmond.org/GiveRichmond.

DON’T MISS the Community Forum at The Jefferson Hotel on Wednesday, October 13 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Tom Silvestri, Publisher of The Richmond Times Dispatch, will moderate. The panel includes the following national experts: 

Bob Ottenhoff, President, GuideStar USA
Established in 1994, GuideStar’s mission is to revolutionize philanthropy and nonprofit practice by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions and encourages charitable giving.  Time Magazine calls GuideStar “the nation’s premier nonprofit database”, which makes available public financial records on the nation’s 1.7 million nonprofit organizations and foundations.  GiveRichmond (www.giverichmond.org)  is powered by GuideStar, with expanded local content administered and published by The Community Foundation.

Amy Smith, President, HandsOn Network
As President of the largest volunteer network in the world, Ms. Smith is responsible for the success of more than 250 volunteer action centers around the globe, as well as HandsOn University, national service programs, network advancement and strategic partnerships. Locally, The Community Foundation and Altria are the lead funders of HandsOn Greater Richmond.

Dr. Gretchen Van der Veer, Director of Leadership Development & Training, Corporation for National and Community Service
The Corporation for National Public Service is an independent federal agency dedicated to engaging Americans of all ages in service to their country.  Dr. Van der Veer came to the Corporation in 1994 to help launch AmeriCorps.  Today, she leads the Corporation’s efforts to build volunteer capacity in support of the nonprofit sector.

Jennifer Hunter, VP of Corporate Affairs, Altria Client Services, Inc.
Ms. Hunter has responsibility for Altria’s corporate contributions and community relations, communications, corporate responsibility strategy, corporate affairs research and underage tobacco prevention efforts.  Having made $1.4 billion in cash and inkind contributions since 2000, Altria together with its operating companies is established as a national leader in supporting employee volunteerism and civic engagement. 

Be blown away by connectivity. Get involved. Give charitable giving cards to your friends. Offer challenge grants to encourage others to give to causes you care about. 

Give Back. Give Smart. GiveRichmond!

Great news Bobby - can’t wait to surf GiveRichmond.

Best,

Cheri Jennings